Ebony Flames
by sushibird06
Summary: Sry no flock in this story, goes along the same lines as Twilight. What happens when a mysterious girl named Sage arrives in Forks, with all of her secrets in tow and a certain werewolf happens to meet her? Read to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, this is a Maximum Ride spin off (does not have max or the flock in it, but will reference other things from that series) and Twilight crossover. Here's what it's about. A mysterious girl named Sage arrives in Forks with all her secrets in tow. But when her strange visions start to take their toll on her, who knows what the abnormal inhabitants of Forks will find out about her? What will you find out about her? ****Mwaa Ha ha ha ha!**

**Disclaimer time! I do not own anything, wait yes I do! I own my computer and my pet bird and my choc-o-late, but I do not own Maximum Ride or Twilight. So don't send the evil copyright people after me! AHHH! *Runs away screaming like a crazy person***

**Director's POV- China Headquarters-**

I sighed as a file was dropped onto my desk with a loud "Smack!" "What is this?" I asked my secretary sharply. "Um, they finally found the information on experiment 314P that you requested." Karen explained nervously. "Phoenix." I stated, opening the file eagerly, I noticed that there was only one page. "There isn't much there, we couldn't scrape up much information on her. Most of it she either stolen or was destroyed long ago by that scientist- Dr. Grolden- that created her." She summed up her speech quickly and then retreated from my office with nod and a quiet. "Ma'am."

Dr. Grolden was a scientist who was slightly insane and had an obsession with a mythological creature called the Phoenix. He had been executed after he had been found- during a trip to Egypt - making a deadly experiment without Itex's consent. A few of the other scientist suspect that he found the Phoenix bird and created this experiment from it. I was still skeptical. This file might have the information to either prove those scientist right or wrong. I read the first line of the page.

Experiment 314P-Aka Phoenix.

Age:17

Sex-Female

DNA:96% Human 4% Avian

Avian Breed: Unknown

Abilities: Ability to fly - Ability to control fire and heat - Ability to heal itself or other persons - Exceeds humans in intelligence, strength and agility.

Current Location: Unknown

Last known Location: Resided in Spain for aproximatly 8 years since escaping at age 7.

Expiration Date: Unknown - Possibly Immortal.

**Sry it is so short, the next chapter will be longer i promise!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter! Yay! Onward!**

"Woosh!" The wind whipped at my long black hair and clothes as I dropped out of the sky. The rain splattered against my face but I forced my eyes open, the blur of dark green trees seemed to be getting larger as I plummeted towards them. "Oh, for heaven's sakes." I hissed when I found that my wings were tangled in the space between my shirt and my jacket. "Of course you cut slits in your shirt but not your jacket." I muttered to myself. I looked down only about sixty yards till I hit the wet forest canopy.

I spun myself in the air so my feet were flat, pointing toward the ground and pulled my small pocket knife out of my shoulder bag. My jacket was hard to get the knife into, seeing as it was leather but I managed. I tore two long slits in my jacket and prepared for the pain that was soon to come. I looked down, only a few seconds left until I hit the ground.

I bit my lip to keep myself from screaming, bent my knees, and pushed my wings out of the slits. The wind lurched me upward slightly, but not enough to give me a safe landing. I hit the ground feet first, tripped and stumbled forward. Panting, I plopped down on the moist grass and rested my head against one of the large trees. I set my bag down and surveyed the damage of my emergency landing. I rolled my ankles : Feet- Check. I kicked my legs in the air, a little pain but nothing out of the ordinary: Legs- Check. I knew my arms and abdomen were okay, _they_ hadn't hit the ground at top speed. I pulled my wings around to survey them.

My wings are a golden-red color with dark red feathers linig my wings at the top and black feathers lining the bottom. Nothing was too bad, just a little ruffled, maybe a little bloody but that wasn't from the fall.

I pulled my wings in around me and dug around in my bag for the papers I had stolen from Itex. My eyes scanned the papers quickly, they all said the same thing about me: 96% human 4% avian, Unknown avian breed, Able to fly, control heat and fire and heal people. The one thing that bothered me about these papers was the last tiny sentence. Possibly Immortal.

It made no sense, every single experiment from Itex had an expiration date, how could I be immortal? If I was immortal, when would I stop aging?

How do they even know that I am immortal? Well at least this is all the information they have on me, so they can't make an evil clone of me and blow up the world. Yeah, that's a good thing. I sighed and started running toward the sound of cars on the wet pavement.

When I reached town I got something to eat at a small restaurant then I searched for an apartment building. I finally found one, a small apartment building next to an even smaller bakery, perfect. I pushed the door open and a bell rang.

"Hello." I said walking up to the counter where a small lady with short auburn hair sat. She looked up through her glasses at me and I smiled at her. "Hello." She said in a nasally voice. Can I help you?" "Yes I'd like to rent an apartment." I stated firmly, I could tell that she was going to be difficult. Her eyes narrowed. "ID please?" She ask and help out her hand. I dug out my fake ID with the name Sage Cooper and handed it to her. "Hm, that's an interesting accent, where did you pick it up?" She ask trying to sound casual. "Spain, I lived there for eight years." I explained, matching her tone. "Oh, how old are you?" She was trying too hard to act innocent. I decided to go with the truth-about my age I mean.

"Seventeen." "Oh so this is a fake ID?! You are a minor?" She ask in a superior tone. "No, I was emancipated at fourteen, that identification is perfectly legal." I stated trying my best not to punch her in the face. "Oh." She said lamley. Then she reached behind her and got a key, handed it to me and said. "Room 4A, the rent is $900 a month and you can pay at the end of the month. Have a nice day." I left without a word and ran up the stairs.

When I reached the room I pushed the door open and stepped right into the small living room. It was a pretty apartment, the walls were painted green- was everything in this town green? I walked to the left and stepped into the kitchen, it was small but it had an oven and a fridge that's all I need. I walked to the other side of the apartment and opened the door and saw the bedroom - green of course - and saw the bathroom on the other side of it. I flopped onto the bed and fell asleep, dreading tomorrow when I would sign up for Forks high.

I woke up to sunlight seeping through my window. That's weird, I thought, I got the impression that it was always dark and wet here. I hopped up and ran to the bathroom. I turned on the water and brushed my teeth while the water was warming up. After my shower I ran my old brush through my hair, then I went outside and took off behind the aparments. When I got to the school clouds were beginning to cover the sun and I walked inside before it could start raining. I walked into the office and to the desk where a receptionist sat. "Hello I need to enroll." I said and smiled. "Of course, just sign these papers sweetie." She said handing me some papers. "Thanks." I said and started filling them out, I put in the same excuse that I gave the lady in the apartment building. "Here you go." I said to the woman when I was done. "Alright see you tomorrow hon'." She said. I escaped from the office quickly and took off behind the school. And now time for shopping. I flew to the WAL MART and bought so much food that I will probably never need to shop again. I also picked up a pain black backpack, pencils, clothes, and a blow dryer. When I got home I sat on the couch and dreaded school tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sry I haven't updated but I had lot's of school and I HAD to buy Paramore's new album Brand New Eyes and listen to it all day and all night, I seriously HAD to. IT IS AWESOME!!!! I love paramore!!! I highly recommend it. On with the story. P.S when these " are around a word they are saying something, and when this ' is around a word they are thinking something. I OWN NOSSINK.**

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" My alarm screeched annoyingly in my ear and I pulled the fluffy pillow over my head. It just seemed to beep louder, how the hell is that possible?! "Ugh!" I grunted and slammed my hand down on the digital clock. "Thank god." I sighed as the beeping stopped, but sadly I had just squished the alarm clock. "Huh." I said looking at the broken pieces. "Guess I don't know my own strength."

I hopped out of bed telling myself I would replace it after school. School, well this was going to go well. I took a shower and brushed my teeth, then I blew my hair out with the blow dryer I got at Wal-Mart. I hate Wal-Mart. Why? I have no clue. Maybe because when you go in there to buy one thing really quick, you come out with twenty things and it's been two hours, or all the people who seem to think that they are the only ones in the store and walk right into you. Yeah, that's probably it. I got dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt with and a pair of plain skinny jeans. I pulled on my sneakers and got my backpack, then ran to get food at the bakery next door, mmmm food.

I walked in the bakery and saw a man, probably in his sixties standing behind a glass counter with so many donuts I can't believe I didn't start drooling on the wood floors. Spit shine anyone? "Hello, young lady, what can I get ya'?" He ask. "Well I will have, three glazed donuts, a banana muffin, a small coffee, and one of those apples to go." I finished pointing to the bowl of apple sitting beside him. His mouth dropped open. "High metabolism."** ( AN-Max Ride reference)** I explained quickly. "Oh, okay let me get that for you." He started getting my order and I stood patiently at the counter. "Here you go, that will be fifteen dollars please." He said when he had gotten my food. I took it and paid him, then ran out the door quickly.

You may be asking yourself, "How is she paying for things if she has been on the run for two years?" Well let's just say that a lot of evil scientists trusted Itex with a lot of bank accounts. I started walking along the sidewalk and eating the baked goods. It was raining, of course, the road was glazed over with a wet sheen. I had to walk because, well what would people think if I had slits in the back of my shirt? The school came into view eventually and I started jogging. When I reached the parking lot I walked straight inside to the office, throwing away the bag that once held donuts and my empty coffee up along the way.

"Hello." I said to the red haired lady. She looked up at me and smiled. "Hello honey, do you need your schedule?" She ask and immediately started leafing through the papers on her desk. "Yes, my last name is Cooper." I added. "Yes Sage, we met yesterday. Here are your papers, just remember to have each of your teachers sign this." She pointed to a yellow slip and then smiled up at me. "I love your accent honey, where are you from?" 'Why does she want to know that? Does that concern her in any way?' I thought, slightly frantic. She seemed generally sincere so I tried to choke back my paranoia and answer her.

"Spain I lived there for eight years." I had a feeling that I would be repeating this a lot. "That must have been fun, but you don't seem very tan for living in Spain for so long." She inquired. "Well I've been living in Maine for two years since then so I probably lost my tan." I explained but it was a lie, for one I had been traveling and fighting evil robots for the past two years, two I have never been able to get a tan and my pitch black hair and black eyes just made me look paler. "Well, you better get to class honey. Have a good first day!"

She shooed me out of the office and I looked at my schedule. At the first glance the information was already in my brain. You see, not only to I have cool fire powers, I am incredibly smart and strong. Math, science, literature, new languages, they are a snap for me. I could have done linear equations at age two, any information that I see is basically uploaded into my brain's hard rive and stored there forever. Including memories, which is why I try not get in touch with my feelings, because feelings lead to reminiscing and reminiscing leads to memories and memories lead to pain. You see? When it comes to strength, let's just say, getting me angry would be bad for your health. I could beat up and entire varsity football team if I wanted to.

I made my way to my first class, English - easy. Then math - knew all of it. Then history- Bored to death (not really, but close). Finally lunch rolled around and I got in line for food. "Hi!" A high pitched, way too peppy voice called. I jumped and spun around on my heel, holding up my tray like a shield. I relaxed when I saw it was just a girl. She was kind of short, with blonde hair and brown eyes. "Hi." I said, my voice was much more smooth compared to her's. "I'm Jessica, you're Sage right?" She smiled and held her hand out, I guessed she wanted me to shake it. "Yeah, Sage." I shook her hand firmly. Her smile wavered and I realized that my grip might be a little too firm. I dropped my hand immediately, not wanting to break all the bones in her hand.

Her smile returned and she hid her hands behind her back, probably holding the one I had shaken. "Well do you want to sit at our table?" She ask motioning to a table with a few kids talking to each other. "Sure." I agreed. When we had gotten our food - I chose to get regular portions here - we sat down at the table she had indicated. "Everyone this is Sage, Sage this is Mike, Angela, Lauren, Tyler, and Eric," She finished and then picked up her plastic fork. "Hi, all." I said and gave a small wave. "Hi." They all chorused, then they all started asking me questions at the same time- except Angela, she was quiet, picking at her food. She smiled at me sympathetically as I started answering questions like, "Where are you from? Why did you come here? How do you like school so far?" And so on and so forth.

After I had finished answering questions I did a quick reconnaissance. Everything looked pretty normal until my eyes landed on a table on the far end of the cafeteria. There was a small group sitting there three girls, three boys. They were all- perfect, way too perfect. Their skin was snow white and they all had perfect features and black eyes like my own. The girl sitting on the right was small and pixie-like, her hair was short and it stuck out in all directions. The boy next to her was lean but muscular with messy honey colored hair it was pretty obvious that him and the small girl next to him were together.

It also seemed that the ridiculously beautiful golden blonde haired girl and the large-very muscular boy with brown hair were together. My eyes slid over to the last couple, there was a boy- he was skinnier than the other two but you could see that he was muscular also, he had disheveled copper colored hair and he was-along with the rest of them- perfect. They girl next to him was more average, pale, but not as pale as the others, with long brown hair. I started to recite the constitution of Spain in my head, I was suspicious of them and I didn't want to run the risk of one of them being one of the few mind readers created at Itex. I turned my head slightly to talk to Jessica. "Who are they?" I ask and motioned slightly with my finger to the table that _they_ were sitting at. When she saw who I was talking about a smile lightened her face.

"Those are the Cullens, they are _gorgeous_, especially Edward, but he's got a girlfriend." She looked away for a second and I wondered if she was jealous, I continued reciting the constitution of Spain. "Anyway, the little one is Alice, the guy next to her is Jasper, the girl next to him is Rosalie, and the guy next to her is Emmett. The second to last one is Edward and that one is Bella." She stopped and gazed at them.

"Are they related?" I pushed. "Yeah-no- well they are all adopted except Bella- she's just Edward's girlfriend. They were adopted by Dr. Carlisle Cullen and Esme Cullen- they are married. The weird thing is that they are all together, you know? Jasper and Alice, and Rosalie and Emmett." She started gazing at them again and I leaned slightly away from her. "Jessica, it's not weird, they aren't really related." Angela protested. "But still." Jessica said lamely. I reached the end of the constitution of Spain and I started over again in Spanish. I looked back over to Cullen's table, a little paranoid now, their story seemed like a cover story to me. I looked over and my eyes met a pair of black liquid ones. My eyes tightened slightly and as he looked away I was left with one question. 'What are they?'


	4. Chapter 4

**Phoenix (Aka Sage): Hey what's up?**

**Me: New chapter, that's what's up! Yay!**

**Phoenix: Yay….**

**Me: Say yay like you mean it! You wimp!**

**Phoenix: Oh I know you did not just call me a wimp. *Cracks Nuckles***

**Me: Maybe I did maybe I didn't.**

**Phoenix: You wanna take this outside?**

**Me: Wait let me just do the disclaimer first, *Clears throat* I hereby declare that I own nothing.**

**Phoenix: Alright lets go. **

**Me: Yay! I am going to fight Phoenix! Wait! I am going to fight Phoenix, help!**

After lunch Jessica and most of her group dispersed but Mike stayed behind to talk. "So, do you need help finding your next class?" He ask, seeming a little too eager to help. "No, but if you are going to French then we can walk together." I said. I am the kind of person who doesn't give a damn what she says, so except when I have to lie, I am pretty straight forward. Mike's face lit up. "Yeah I am going there too. Let's go." He started walking and I matched his pace easily. "So, you are from Spain?" He ask, trying to make conversation, but I had heard this question way too many times and I answered with a bit of a tone in my voice. "Well, I lived there until I was fifteen but then I moved to Maine." His smile was still in place after that so I guess he didn't notice my annoyance. "Who are your parents, my parents haven't said anything about them so." He trailed off waiting for me to answer. "I was emancipated when I was old enough, so I live alone." I explained with my fake story. "Oh, wow, what happened? To make them emancipate you I mean." He ask, he actually seemed shocked. 'I guess they don't see a lot of excitement around here.' I thought. "Umm, single mom who got pregnant at sixteen, she wanted to travel, I was a burden, so at fourteen I was emancipated. And now I am a legal adult." Wow that was just off the top of my head.

"Oh, well I'm sorry." He said sympathetically, I am surprised that I didn't gag. 'I hate when people feel sorry for me.' "It's not your fault, I didn't like her much anyway." I explained. "Well, what made you come to forks?" He ask. 'What is this a job application?' "I don't know, I like to travel-guess I got that from my mom- and I have never been to Washington before, so, why not?" I said, it was amazing how I could lie this much with a straight face, what was I supposed to tell him, Oh I came here because I thought this dinky town would be dinky enough to hide me from evil scientists? Yeah, maybe that's what I tell him next time- note sarcasm. "Okay, here's French." He said and help open a classroom door for me. "Thanks." I said and walked inside. "Hello, can you please sign this?" I said, handing the yellow slip to the French teacher. "Yes, here you go." He handed it back to me and pointed me to a seat next to some girl with brown hair. Then I noticed the table at the back of the class where Edward and Bella were sitting. Edward was looking at me through narrowed eyes and Bella was looking at him dissaprovingly.

I walked down the row of seats with my eyes straight forward, reciting the constitution of Spain in French this time-yep I knew French, I knew a lot of languages, this class would be a breeze- and sat down next to the girl. I tried not to look to their table again but the whole class I felt Edward glaring at the back of my head. When French class was over, Edward picked up his books, grabbed Bella's hand and left without a glance back at me. 'Way too weird.' I thought and left the classroom.

I didn't see the Cullens the rest of the day, or even when all of the kids filed out of the high school. I left Jessica and Mike telling them that I had to go home. When I walked outside and rounded the corner I saw them again. Edward Cullen was leaning against a shiny silver Volvo, that I guessed was his, with his arm around Bella's waist. I started repeating the constitution again in German. Then his black eyes met mine and I froze in my tracks, pictures were flying across my vision. I felt my face go blank and the pictures grew faster until they were all mashed together into what looked like a scene from a movie.

Edward's POV-

I was leaning against my Volvo with Bella after French class where I had met, sort of, Sage Cooper. This girl was not normal, she was beautiful in a non-human way, her eyes too deep for there supposedly flat black color- like they were holding some kind of secret, when I tried to read her mind I found that she was reciting the constitution of Spain, like she knew that I could read her mind, and her blood smelled odd-not bad just not normal.

As Bella and I watched the exit of the school waiting for Alice, she walked around the side of the building. Sage Cooper was looking down at the pavement - her footsteps too light, then she looked up at me and froze where she stood in the middle of the line of traffic. Her face went blank, almost like Alice's when she has a vision. A car was coming around the corner, she would be in his blind spot if she didn't move, what was wrong with her? She just stood, oblivious to the fact that a car was about to hit her. I could feel Bella freeze in my arms. "What is she doing!" Bella said frantically, "Go help her!" She pleaded as a car whipped around the corner. I looked at Bella's anxious expression, sighed, and ran forward pulling Sage off the road just as the car flew around the corner. In the process of pulling her from her death, we hit the back of a car and she snapped out of her little trance. "Sage? Are you alright?" I ask getting up from next to her. She blinked twice and then her eyes widened, her mouth dropping open.


	5. Chapter 5

**Next chapter, sorry it took so long! I'd come up with an excuse but I was just being lazy, I'll try to update regularly from now on. Oh and sorry for any mistakes but this is my first story sooo yeah. To the story! P.S I made a change in chapter 4, instead of her blood smelling good - it smells strange to the Cullens. Thanks for the suggestion Bassoon! Yeah for shout-outs! I like to give shout-outs so expect them from me often. **

**Sage POV**

The image that I was seeing was strange-like nothing I had seen before. I was flying over a desert with a river cutting threw it, it looked like the Nile in Egypt. Suddenly I heard a screech and I was diving to the ground.

For the first time I realized that the eyes I was seeing through weren't mine, I was seeing through the eyes of a bird. The bird screeched again and pulled up, the tip of it's wing cut into the rolling waters of the Nile and then swerved to the right.

The bird was aiming toward a flat, square, house. It was made of a sandy colored stone and it had a flat roof with an open rectangle-shaped doorway, like the houses that used to be in ancient Egypt. 'Maybe that's where this scene is taking place.' I pondered in my sub-conscience

The bird landed just outside the doorway and a man appeared in front of me. He had olive colored skin but he was still snow-white, like Edward. He was beautiful, he had black hair and his eyes were dark red-burgundy color. And then the strangest thing happened, my thoughts seemed to bend and twist so that they were somehow intertwined with that of the birds'. 'Amun.' The bird seemed to greet the man in it's head , it's thoughts were strange -- they were animalistic yet they were so much more sophisticated than your average animal.

All of a sudden a rush of words flooded from the birds' mind and into mine.

'Speed. Strong. Pale. Red. Blood. Perfect. Immortal. Vampire.'

Of all the words that that were pushed into my head, the last one was the one that stood out the most. _Vampire._ Was this man- Amun - a vampire? I tried not to be too skeptical of mythical creatures, especially since I was an escaped experiment from an evil company that has a cover as a manufacturer of almost everything but really makes experiments that would be capable of taking over the world. Cause who would believe that?

And if he was a vampire, what was a bird doing at his house -- in ancient Egypt?

"I'll get Benjamin." He said, sounding a bit annoyed at the bird. His voice was smooth and perfect. Then he disappeared into thin air. 'Fast.' The bird thought at the same time I did, although the birds' thought seemed like a reminder to itself, mine on the other hand was filled with realization. The bird had said -- or thought -- 'Speed.' Evidently meaning _super-speed_. Not a second later a boy -- Benjamin I presumed -- appeared in the doorway. He didn't look much different than Amun, he was younger -- that was apparent -- but he had the same olive pallor as Amun, and his eyes were the same burgundy/red color that you would see on someone in a scary movie, he also had the same black hair. That's when it all fell into place, Amun and the Benjamin had more in common with the Cullen family than I had realized.

They were both so pale and so perfect, although I had not witnessed the speed, the strength, and had not seen the same dark red eyes on the Cullens as I had on Benjamin and Amun, is it possible that the Cullens were vampires? Benjamin smiled and said. "Hello, Phoenix."

All of a sudden the vision blurred and shook in front of me- then disappeared. I felt metal against my back and heard a few gasps around me. "Sage? Are you alright?" I heard a smooth, velvet voice ask. I looked up and my eyes widened, my mouth dropping open.

Edward was standing over me, his eyes curious. As he took in my expression, his became wary. "Sage?" He ask again. I composed my expression and stood up in front of him, I saw that the metal that I had been pressed against was the back of a car-- it looked like it had been dented but then pushed back out from the inside, it was only slightly damaged. "Yeah, I'm fine." I looked down as I said this, I was afraid he might see something in my eyes that I didn't want him to see. After that vision of the past I just had, I wasn't sure how in-control my emotions were.

"I should call an ambulance." He said, taking one step back and pulling out his phone. "No!" I protested and then looked down wincing at my hasty answer. 'Too quickly, too panicky, too urgent!' I scolded myself in my head. "You're head is bleeding, Sage." He told me.

I hadn't noticed the burning in my head until he pointed that out. I put my hand on the back of my head, when I pulled it back it was covered with the rusty-smelling red liquid that I see so often. I looked to Edward's face and then looked at the blood on my hand. I didn't trust my reaction to this -- because of my new found revelation about the Cullen family -- so I looked down and changed my thought pattern.

How was I going to get out of going to the horrible antiseptic smelling place that sets so many locked up memories of horror free? I couldn't use my healing power in front of all these people but I knew that I wouldn't be aloud out of anyone's sight until I head my head looked at.

I sighed, 'Guess I'll just have to suck it up and go to the …… hospital.' It took me a while to even _think_ the word let alone _go to one._ I looked up and listened to Edward tell them where to send the ambulance. Then I heard Jess call my name.

"Sage! Sage, are you okay?" She sounded like it was a big deal, all that happened was Edward pulled me out of the path of a speeding car and I hit my head on the back of another one. Oh, now that I think about it, it was probably a bigger deal than I thought. I turned toward her. "Yeah, I'm fine, I just hurt my head a little bit." I answered with a small shrug. "A little bit?! You're bleeding all over the place!" She said, examining my wound. 'I think your exaggerating "a little bit", Jess.' I thought sarcastically, but then put it in a nicer way. "I don't think it's that serious, Jess."

"Well, an ambulance is coming, right?" She ask. "Yeah." I answered sourly. I looked around for the driver of the car to apologize to him or her, but it looked like they had already driven away.

I turned back to look at Edward but he was gone. 'Strange.' I thought.

The ambulance pulled up and I groaned internally. "Come on Sage, you have to get to the hospital." Jess started leading me to the big red and white van.

"Yeah the - hospital." I choked the word out.

I climbed into the ambulance. "Great first day huh?" Jess ask sarcastically. "It was perfect." I answered bitterly, then smiled. "See ya later Jess." I waved a little and then a paramedic shut the door on her. 'Off to the second worst place in the world.' I thought as the sirens sounded.


	6. Chapter 6

**AH!!!!! I can't believe that I haven't updated in so long! So so so so so so so so sorry! I AM A BAD SEED!!!!! Okay deep breath, *sighs*. Anyway, happy Halloween everybody! Yeah Halloween is AWESOME! (I think I had too much candy- even though I didn't even go trick or treating this year). On with it then! P.S I own Nothing, NOTHING I SAY! P.P.S? You can thank dena () for reminding me to update! Thanks for reading dena ()! **

The doors to the ambulance opened and I took a deep breath as a paramedic helped me hop down. I watched my dragging feet carefully, making sure that they didn't start running the other way as fast as they could. The doors swooshed open with a sudden breeze that would be my last bit of fresh air before the antiseptic hit me and I took advantage of it, gulping in large lung-fuls of air.

I was ushered to a small room in the back of the building and soon enough a doctor, white coat and all, walked in. I bit down on my lip hard to keep myself from slugging him as he turned my head to the side to look at the wound there. "It's not too serious, you know what they say, head wounds bleed the most. HAHAHA!" His boisterous laugh was so loud that it made me jump and my fist flew up into his jaw. "Oh holy crap! I'm sorry!" I apologized and then put my hand over my mouth to keep myself from laughing. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" The short little doctor started hopping around the room holding his jaw. A nurse ran up to him, putting her hands on his shoulders to hold him still. And then she lead him out of the room, throwing a mean look at me over her shoulder.

The door closed and I couldn't hold it in anymore, my laughing filled the room and my arms clutched my stomach (What? He squealed like a six-year-old girl! And hopped like a little bunny rabbit). I heard the door open again and my laughter immediately cut off and a cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck. A doctor walked in but he was nothing like the stubby-squealy-little rabbit girl- of a doctor as the last one. He was beautiful, right away I was reminded of Edward. He had blonde hair and topaz eyes, he looked to be in his thirties. 'Omygosh! Is he a vampire, too?' My thoughts wondered in a very teenage girlish way. 'Please, that is just a theory.' My better side reasoned.

"Hello, I am Dr. Cullen." 'Cullen.' I thought 'This is Edward's father, by adoption.' I added mentally. I was only slightly surprised to see that Dr. Cullen was as beautiful as the other Cullens. "Let's look at that cut." He turned my head like the other doctor and I tried (harder this time) not to use violence. "You are going to need some stitches but that's all, not too serious." He explained and walked over to a counter. 'Stitches! Stitches!?' My thoughts were frantic and panicky at the thought of a guy in a white coat sticking a needle in me - in my head. I shivered and my eyes widened. "Umm do you really think that's necessary? I mean it doesn't hurt and I don't even think it was cut that bad. Maybe you could just put li-like a bandage on it?" My rambling/pleading stopped when Dr. Cullen turned around laughing lightly. "Don't worry, it won't hurt and you only need seven stitches." He had a tool that I seriously did not want to look at, a cotton ball, and a bottle of something in his hands. I sighed and tilted my head forward, swallowing my instinct to run. I sucked in a quick breath of anti-septic ridden air, then pushed the vampire thoughts out of my head, as he cleaned the blood and stitched the wound.

"All right, all done. How do you feel?" He ask, pulling back and setting his tool on a tray next to the bed I was on. "Fine." I answered quickly, my feet were twitching impatiently- ready to leap from the bed. "Alright then, you are free to go. And if you start to feel light-headed, try not to be too active for a while." He advised. "Alright." I replied, I felt like I was being released from jail. "Okay, feel better, Sage." He said and walked gracefully out the door.

As soon as the door closed I jumped up and took the hospital dress thing off so I was just wearing my regular clothes underneath it, then tore out of the room. I kept my eyes on the floor and walked in quick steps toward freedom. "Hello." A velvet rang beside me. I felt my face fall as I turned away from the automatic doors. "Hi." I said. Edward and Bella were standing beside me, her face was friendly but his was cautious. I started reciting again- just in case. "Are you feeling alright?" He ask. I sighed, I had a feeling that I would be ask that a lot tomorrow at school. "Yes, fine, thanks. And thanks for-um….." I drug out the sentence not wanting to say "Gee! Thanks or saving my life, Mister!!! Your da best!!!!" Yeah cause that is soooo _me_. "No problem. Uh, we have to go." He said and they turned to walk down the hall.

"Wait!" I called and they turned back to face me. "Umm, how did you do that?" I ask awkwardly, knowing that the chances of him admitting to me that he was a vampire were just as good as the chances of me admitting to him that I was genetically altered. In case you couldn't figure that out the chances are zero.

"Do what?" He ask innocently. "Run all the way from your car to the place where I was standing in the middle of the road and pull me out of the way before a speeding car hit me?" I reminded. "Sage, I was only a few feet away from you. It only took a second for me to reach you." He lied, I was sure that he was by his pretty little Volvo. "But I saw you, you" I started but I was cut off. "Look, you hit your head pretty hard, I think you are imagining things, just forget it and be thankful that you aren't dead." He snapped and my eyes widened then narrowed.

"Fine, I'll take your _false_ explanation for now, but only because I am a little out of my element here. I don't believe it." I hissed and pointed an accusing finger at him, Bella flinched at my angry tone. "I can tell when I am being lied to."

"You should go home and lie down." He looked away, his eyes cold, I think he was mad that I scared his girlfriend.

"Yeah, whatever. Bye." I said sharply and walked stiffly to the doors. I felt their eyes on my back as I left the building.

The fly home was slow - or seemed that way. All I knew was that I was seriously tired, I had to work to keep my wings working. All of a sudden I felt dizzy and I tilted precariously to one side as my left wing collapsed. I hissed as pain jolted in my right wing, that was trying to hold me up but I was just spiraling toward a meadow below me. You may be wondering how often I fall out of the sky, well not as often as I seem to be lately. Then - about twenty feet from the ground- my right wing followed the lefts' example and blackness swallowed me.

**Alice POV:**

I was sitting in class , worrying about Sage - even though she was just human. I sighed impatiently as the teacher's lecuture dragged on. Edward was suspicious of Sage, he thought that she "wasn't human". I mean what could she possibly be? She wasn't a vampire, she wasn't a werewolf, what else is there?

Then I felt my face go blank. I was seeing a meadow - well the thing _in_ the meadow- it was a girl. She was lying, unconsious, in the middle of the field. She had long black hair and she was thin- and bleeding badly. But the thing that caught my attention were the things on her back. Wings! The things on her back were wings!? Sure enough there were red/gold wings lying limp on her back. And then with a look at her face, I realized that this wasn't just any girl. It was Sage. Edward was right.

I snapped out of my vision as the bell rang and I gathered my books quickly, then rushed out the door, I stuffed my things in my locker then started running to the hospital to find Edward. When I reached the hospital parking lot I waited until no one was looking and then strolled casually out of the woods. I walked quickly to Carlisle's office, where I knew I would find Edward, and knocked on the wooden door. "Come in!" I heard Carlisle call. I opened the door a little too dramatically and Edward heard the panick in my thoughts. "What's wrong Alice?" He ask, slightly frantic himself. "It's Sage. You were right - she's not human. We have to go find her she is unconscious in a meadow and she's got-" My panicky rambling was cut off. "Calm down Alice, what do you mean "not human"?" Carlisle ask. I took a deep breath. "She has wings." I answered.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi all! New chapter, yay! I don't have anything else to say except; I don't own anything! (In this story.) STORY TIME!**

**Edward POV**:

"She has wings." Was Alice's reply to Carlisle's question. That one sentence kept replaying in my head as Alice and I ran through the forest. "Do you smell her blood?" Alice ask anxiously. "No. You couldn't tell _which_ meadow she was in?" I prodded, annoyed. "Oh yeah, it was the big one with grass." Alice said sarcastically. "They all look the same Edward, I don't have _mapping_ powers." She said , sounding ticked off.

"Sorry." I said, then I smelled it, fresh blood. "Oh, I smell her now." Alice said. "You're right, her blood does smell odd. Of course, now we know why." Alice laughed and hopped in the air fluttering her arms, trying to imitate wings. "Oh, Alice. Will we ever find out why you are so strange?" I wondered and then sped up as the smell of Sages' strange blood got stronger. "No, it's a mystery." Alice laughed again and then raced ahead of me, out of sight.

"I found her!" I heard Alice call from up ahead as I broke through the trees. "Over here!" She called.

Alice was crouched on the round leaning over Sage's unconscious body. "She is bleeding badly." Alice pointed out as I approached. "We should get her to the hospital." I said and leaned down to pick Sage up.

"Oh really? We should take a girl with _wings_ to a hospital _full of curious doctors?"_ Alice said, stood up, and put her hands on her hips. "We should take her back to the house. I'll call Rose and tell her to get Jasper out of there." She pulled out her phone and dialed Rosalie's number_._

"Rose? Yeah we have a little problem and, long story short, I need you to get Jasper out of the house for a little while. No Rose, it's Sage. Yeah what else would it be Rose? Thanks, oh and tell Jasper I love him. Bye!" Alice hung up the phone and, with a motion to follow her, ran into the forest.

I picked up Sage and ran after her.

****

Rosalie POV:

I heard the phone ring and I put down the red nail polish I was using to answer it. "Hello?" I ask then blew on my nails. "Rose?" I heard Alice ask. "Yep, do you need something, Alice?" I ask. "Yeah we have a little problem and, long story short, I need you to get Jasper out of the house for a little while." She said quickly.

"Why? You two having a fight?" I ask and put the phone between my shoulder and ear so I could continue painting my nails. "No Rose, it's Sage." She said, sounding annoyed. I smiled and then frowned, I didn't like Sage, Edward seemed to think she wasn't human." "What, is she bleeding or something?" I ask absentmindedly. "Yeah what else would it be Rose?" She ask, clearly annoyed now. "Okay fine, I'll get him out of here for a while. Call me when we can come back." I said and stood up from my chair." "Thanks, oh and tell Jasper I love him. Bye!" Alice hung up the phone and I went to get Jasper.

****

Sage POV:

I heard talking but I couldn't see anything. 'Why is it so dark in here?' I thought and found that I was unable to say it aloud. 'Am I unconscious?' I heard myself think. 'What's going on?' Then I remembered, I had fallen. 'I passed out while I was flying.' Then I thought of something. 'Who the hell found me?' And 'Where the hell am I?'

"How bad is it, Carlisle?" My thoughts froze as I heard Bella's voice.

"Well her, um, wing is broken along with a rib and her forearm is fractured." I recognized doctor Cullen's voice as he accessed my injuries and started freaking when I slowly processed his words…….her wing. 'Of course! Of course they would see my wings, they were open when I fell! Oh no, oh no, oh well crap!' I thought frantically. 'The first day in a new town and someone already knows my secret! Ugh!' I thought and then felt my hand clench into a fist. 'I can move again!' I thought happily.

"Oh! Carlisle, I think she's awake!" A high, girly, but musical voice say excitedly.

My eyes fluttered open and I heard the same voice say. "Yep, she's awake."

"Thanks, Alice." Edward said sarcastically. I would have turned to look at them but every part of my body was in serious pain. "Ugh." I grunted and put my hand on my head, which had one of those annoying headaches that feels like someone is stabbing you with a little tiny knife every five seconds. "Sage? How are you feeling?" Carlise ask. I wasn't sure if I could form coherent words yet but I tried. "Ifelikefriggincrap." I slurred incoherently while in my head I was saying, I feel like friggin' crap. "Do we have any pain killers, Carlisle?" Edward ask. "Only a shot." Carlisle answered. "No, no shots, I'm fine." I managed to form the words out loud (I hoped they were out loud anyway) and pushed myself up onto my elbows. "You should lie down, Sage. You were injured pretty badly when you,um, fell." He warned and put his hands on my shoulders to push me back down, his hands were cold, even through my jacket. "No, I am fine." I argued and sat up again.

"Alright, but do you mind explaining...... this?" He gestured to my injured wing, which I noticed was wrapped up now. "I will explain what I am, when you explain what _you _are." I said, Carlisle sighed and looked at Edward while Bella shifted nervously. "You explain first, we saved your life twice. I think you owe us that much." Edward said, matching my tone. I sighed and then gave in.

"My name is Phoenix, not Sage. I am an experiment from a company called "Itex"." I started but was cut off. "Wait, Itex? As in the company that makes almost _everything_?" I recognized Alice from the cafeteria. "Yes. Anyway they also make genetically altered humans, well children, and I was one of them until I escaped when I was seven. My human genes were mixed with avian genes so I am 96 percent human, four percent avian. I lived in Spain for eight years and then traveled for a while before coming here. Oh and I am also on the run from wolf-robots who are programmed to rip my throat out. That's pretty much it except for my powers. Your turn." I finished and smiled up at them.

"Wait, powers?" Edward ask. I sighed again and said. "Yes, I have powers. I can control heat and fire, and I can heal myself and other people. And I am stronger, faster, smarter, and my senses are more acute than your average human." I concluded and then rolled my hand in a motion for them to start explaining.

"Yes, well..um. We are vampires, except Bella." Carlisle said plainly and slightly awkwardly. I just nodded my head, I wasn't surprised. "That's what I thought." I said and they all blinked at me. "You see, when I was standing in the road earlier today." I looked at Edward. "Well, I was having a vision, I guess, but it was like a vision of the past? Anyway I saw some people that looked like you, their names were...um..... Benjamin and Amun!" I said, proud that I remembered the names of the two men in my vision. All three of three of their mouths fell open.

Edward looked at Carlisle with a shocked expression. "We know them." Carlisle said. "Amun is the leader of a vampire coven in egypt."

"That's where my vision was! Except it looked like _ancient _Egypt." I said. "Yes that makes sense." Carlise said. "Vampires are immortal." That kind of shocked me, seeing as the Itex papers said that I could be immortal, but I kept my mouth shut. "Oh." I said stupidly. "Well, you know I have visions too! Except mine are of the future." Alice said and clapped her hands, she seemed like a happy person. "Really? Do you all have powers?" I ask.

"Well, Edward and Alice have the most special powers. Jasper can control and feel emotions, Emmett's strong point is strength, Rosalie has beauty, Esme has her sense of compassion, and I have a sense of control- that is how I am able to be a doctor." Carlisle said. "I have the power to read minds." Edward added. "Wow." I said. "Your powers are very amazing though." Carlise said. "You said you could heal yourself? How does that work?" "Umm, I guess I could show you." I said and put my left hand on my fractured right forearm, I closed my eyes and felt heat wash over the fracture. I heard gasps as a ribbon of flames swirled around my arm and then dissapeared. I opened my eyes and shook my arm to prove that it was healed.

"Wow." Bella said. I put my hand on my broken wing and repeated the process with it and then my rib. "There, all better." I said and hopped up from the couch. "Um, Phoenix?" Alice ask. "Where are you living?" "In an apartment building." I said, confused. "Omygosh! Do you want to come and live here? It will be so fun, we can go shopping and I can do your hair and we will have so much fun! EEEEK!" She said happily, or way more than happily. Bella leaned away from her with a frightened expression. I looked at Carlisle. "Yes, would you like to move in?" He ask.

They all looked at me hopefully (especially Alice). "Sure, I guess."


	8. Chapter 8

**READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!! **

**Okay I got your attention, so I have been thinking about this one comment I got from Bassoon. (Hi again Bassoon!) And the comment suggested that I have a werewolf imprint on Phoenix (Remember that's Sage's real name). So, naturally , this comment gave me a BUNCH of ideas. So I want to put my ideas to a vote.**

**Here is what you need to vote for : Yes or no to a werewolf imprinting on Phoenix (which will bring Bella back). And also vote for which werewolf you want to imprint on her. **

**I will give you guys till Friday to vote (Cuz I am going to be volunteering at the animal shelter all day Thursday), then I will tally up the yes and no's and if there are more yeses I will see which werewolf most of you want to imprint.**

**P.S Until the voting is over at midnight on Friday, nothing will happen between Edward and Phoenix.**

**Signing off! **

So, tell me more about Itex." Alice said as she drove (way too fast) Edward's Volvo to my apartment building.

"Well I told you most of it, they are messed up people who create live human experiments. I think they are trying to make the perfect experiment to take of the world or something." I explained.

"Oh, are they making any progress on that?"' She ask.

"No, most of them die." I said sadly.

"You said that they experiment on children, - that's sick by the way - how do they, you know, get them?" Alice ask.

"The kids? I don't really know the details, but I was a test tube baby - I don't have parents." I said and looked out the rain speckled window.

"Aww that's so sad. I guess I kind of know how you feel. I can't remember my parents, I can't remember anything from before I was changed. We sort of lose the memories of our human lives when we change." Alice explained.

"Oh, sorry." I said lamely.

"Don't be, I don't remember any of it anyway. And I like my new life." She said happily and gave a little laugh.

I laughed too and then sighed.

"Thanks again for letting me come and live with you guys." I said.

"No problem! You have a secret and we have a secret, your not human and we're a little more not human." Alice laughed again and said "And it is going to be so fun having you live with us. Oh that reminds me, we have to go shopping this week, it will be soooo fun!" Alice squeaked excitedly.

"Sure Alice, it will be fun." I said uneasily.

We pulled up to my apartment building and Alice shut off the engine. "Okay, let's go get your stuff!" Alice announced and hopped out of the car. "Wait, Alice!" I called after her. I got out of the car and followed Alice into the building. "Alice." I said, catching up with her. "You have your key?" Alice ask. "Yeah right here, but -" Alice grabbed the keys and said. "Great let's go." And then ran up the staircase. "Ugh." I grunted and followed her.

I walked through the already open door to my apartment and sighed when I saw my bedroom door open. "Sage? Where is all you stuff? Where are your clothes?" I heard Alice call. "That's what I've been _trying_ to tell you. I don't have that many clothes. Only the few things I got the first day I moved here." I explained.

"Why wouldn't you buy more than a few items when you move to a new town?" Alice ask disapprovingly. "Oh, never mind, we will just have to go shopping sooner than I thought. Yay!" Alice clapped and then ran to my bathroom - and I don't just mean run like one of those jogger people you see on the side of the road, (I never got that, why not walk?) I mean she ran like _super-speed_ ran, the breeze she made blew two magazines off the bedside table..

"How did you do that, Alice?" I asked as I walked into the bathroom. "Do what? Oh. Vampires can move _extremely_ fast." She explained. "Oh, okay." I said. "Ugh!" Alice grunted in frustration. "What?" I asked. "You have no idea how to shop." Alice sighed and put her hand on her forehead. "You bought a _store brand_ hair dryer? Oh my god, you need help." She was twisting my little Wal mart hair dryer around and around in her hands.

"Hey! I did fine on buying my clothes, you didn't say a thing about them." I said defensively and grabbed my hair dryer from her. "I didn't say anything because I wanted to be fair and see if you did any better in the bathroom department but no. Oh Sage. You have a _round _hair brush, but you have _long_, and_ soft_ hair. You use a _flat_ brush on long, soft hair, not a round brush. And over here, you have the wrong kind of shampoo for your hair, you need-" I didn't feel like getting a lecture on the correct density of shampoo so I cut her off.

"Alright Alice, I get it. We will go shopping and you can buy me a tub-full of the correct shampoo. But please, can I just get what little clothes I have and leave?" I reasoned.

"Yeah, let's go, I can't look at your pitiful attempt at shopping any longer." Alice said dramatically.

"Come on." I said and went to get my things.

After we had gotten my things we put them back in the car and drove back to the Cullen's house.

As Alice and I walked up the porch stairs Alice said. "Okay, Edward said that you can have his room, we don't use our rooms much anyway - we don't sleep."

"That explains why." I said and Alice laughed.

Alice showed me to Edward's room and then left me alone to "get situated" as Alice said. But I was having a hard time, seeing as she put all my things away as soon as we got here. So I was sitting on Edward's couch, doing nothing. Fun! I sighed and was about to go find someone to talk to, when I heard a door close downstairs. I stood up and walked to the hallway, I leaned over the railing to listen for talking.

"Hi!" I heard Alice's voice chirp. "Gah!" I yelped and spun around. "Don't _do_ that Alice." I said and relaxed.

"You are going to get a lot of people sneaking up on you in this house, get used to it. Now, come downstairs and meet Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper. Jasper is my husband." Alice informed me.

"Alright." I said and walked down the stairs.

"Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper - this is Phoenix." Alice announced as we walked into the living room where the other three beautiful vampires were. "Hello." Jasper said as Alice skipped up to him and put her arm around his waist. "Hi." Said Rosalie and lifted her hand in a small wave.

"Hello, honey." Esme said with a warm smile.

"Hey! You're the girl who can control fire, you gotta show me!" Emmett boomed excitedly.

I laughed as Alice said. "Yes! Will you show us your power?" Alice ask.

"It would be very interesting." Carlisle added.

"Sure I can show you guys." I said and shrugged my shoulders.

I walked outside, followed by the Cullens (when I say Cullens, I am including Bella), and stood in the middle of their front yard. "Okay, here is my power." I said and spread my hands out in front of me. Flames erupted on the palms of my hands and I heard a few gasps. "Awesome!" Emmett said. "Can you move it?" Edward ask.

"Of course." I said and spun in a circle. I stretched out my arms and a ring of fire surrounded me, then I pulled the flames up like a curtain so I was inside a tunnel of fire.

"Wow." I heard Bella say. I laughed and put out the fire.

"I can also explode things, but I don't think that would be very safe here." I said, looking at the giant house behind them.

"Cool! You can explode things?! I have to see that, let's go find something to blow up!" Emmett yelled enthusiastically.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Emmett." Esme said in a stern tone, like a real mom.

"Aw." Emmett grunted.

The rest of the day past quickly, the Cullens and I talked about vampires and Itex experiments and soon enough I was asleep on the couch in Edward's room.

I was in the middle of a dream about talking saute`d mushrooms eating cupcakes (I was really hungry) when I heard a high musical voice in my ear.

"Wake up, Phoenix! I have to get you ready for school!" Alice squealed into my ear.

"Ugh, no, go away, Alice." I grunted and pulled the cover over my head.

"No, get up." Alice demanded and pulled the sheets off of me. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me off the couch, but I am so uncoordinated in the morning, I ended up face-down on the floor. "Ugh." I mumbled into the thick carpet.

"Come on sleepy head!" Alice sang and yanked me up off the floor.

She pulled me into the bathroom and stuffed something into my hands, I didn't see it because my eyes were still glued shut. I heard Alice close the bathroom door and say. "Take a shower and then put on that outfit. Then I will do your hair." She said excitedly.

I took a shower and the hot water got me to wake up. I pulled a fluffy white towel around me and then looked at the outfit Alice picked out for me.

It was a pair a of ripped skinny jeans, a white undershirt with black lace at the bottom, a brown shirt with quarter length sleeves, and one of those jackets that comes down to the bottom of your ribcage with an orange, white, and brown plaid pattern. I decided that it was my style and I put the outfit on.

I pulled the door open and called Alice.

"All right, come on." Alice said and ushered me out of the bathroom and into a bedroom that I didn't recognize.

"This is my room. I have a bunch of hair stuff so sit down." She said and pushed me down into a tall red chair in front of a big mirror. The mirror was sitting on a wooden dresser, which was scattered with hair products.

Alice grabbed a brush and the hair dryer and started messing with my dripping wet hair.

"Okay, don't look yet. Come over here." Alice pulled me off the chair and sat me down on the nicely made bed.

"Now, hold still. I need to see which shoes look best with that outfit." She said and pulled a plastic box from under the bed. "Hmm, this one looks good." Alice held up a pair of black boots with a stiletto heel.

"No, no Alice. I don't think it is even possible for me to walk in heels. And, I don't do leather. Not scince the mutant cow at Itex." I said stubbornly.

"But these match perfectly with that outfit! At least try them on." She held out the shoe and I sighed.

"Fine." I took of the boots and slid them on over my black socks.

"Try to walk." Alice encouraged.

I stood up from the bed and started walking across the room. "Hey, this isn't so hard." I said and then stumbled forward, I spread out my arms to balance myself and walked back to Alice.

"See? You can wear them. Now, let's go." Alice said and grabbed my elbow to help me walk.

"But, I'm hungry." I whined.

"Oh, yeah, you have to eat. Sorry. There is some cereal in the kitchen." She offered,

"Okay." I agreed.

After I ate a huge bowl of cereal. Edward had picked Bella up, So Alice, Jasper and I rode to school together. While Rosalie drove with Emmett in her car. They were very understanding about my claustrophobia and rode in seperate cars.

We all broke up when classes started.

Classes past very boringly and soon it was time for lunch.

"Hi, Sage." I heard Mike behind me in the lunch line and I turned around. "Hi, Mike." I replied and picked up an apple.

"I just wanted to invite you to come on a trip to the beach a bunch of us are going on." He said and smiled at me.

"What beach?" Surely beaches couldn't be that warm around here.

"La push, it's at the reservation. We are going after school tomorrow because it is supposed to be really sunny. Do you want to come?" He ask. 'Sunny doesn't mean warm.' I thought.

"Sure, I'll come." I answered in a happy tone. "It'll be fun."

"Great, are you going to sit with us?" Mike ask hopefully.

"No, I am sitting with the Cullens." I said and his expression turned shocked/disappointed.

"Oh." He said, his tone was, again, shocked/disappointed.

"I'll see ya tomorrow, Mike." I said and started to walk away.

"Well, do you want us to pick you up-to go to the beach?" Mike ask.

"No, I'll meet you guys there." I said and left him there.

I could just fly there.

**Okay! Now all you have to do is vote! Jus click the little button down there, it doesn't bite…..okay maybe once but it's gone to obedience school so………..VOTE!**


	9. Chapter 9

**The voting is over! Yay, now I can write again! I meant to update sooner but I had a serious case of writer's block. Anyway, read to find out who won the voting! **

"What did Mike want?" Edward ask. We were sitting at the back of the loud cafeteria.

"He invited me to La push along with some other kids." I said and looked up from the unknown substance on my tray when none of the Cullens replied.

"You want to come?" I ask, confused at the look on their faces.

"No, it's going to be sunny - we can't go in the sun. And we don't go to La push." Alice explained.

"Why? And why?" I ask.

Alice sighed. "We sort of, umm, sparkle in the sun." She said.

"And we don't go to La push because of the treaty we made with the werewolves that says vampires can't go on the reservation." Edward explained.

"Wait, woe - werewolves?" I spluttered.

"Yes, about seventy years ago we made a deal with Ephriam Black and the other_ dogs_ that we wouldn't go on their land. They didn't attack us because we explained that we didn't attack humans." He said.

"Are there still werewolves on the reservation?" I ask, not surprised that there were such creatures, I remember when the Erasers were still in use at Itex.

"Not that we know of. You should go, it will be fun for you to have a sunny day on the beach with your friends, I am not saying it's going to be warm though - just sunny." Alice encouraged.

"I'll go with you. Edward is going hunting with Jasper and Emmet." Bella offered.

"Yeah and I can go shopping with Rose and Esme in Seattle, it won't be sunny there tomorrow."

"Alright, we'll go." I said.

The next day Alice decided to torture me with her many hair weapons and gooey hair junk again. I slept through most of the classes and then ate something wet and green at lunch. Soon the school day was over and I said goodbye to the Cullens and Bella and we took Edward's Volvo to La push.

We got to La push and a car was parked about fifty yards down on the wet sand. Bella and I started down the beach.

"Hi Jessica!" I called when the little blonde girl came into view.

"Hi Sage. Hi Bella." She greeted us happily.

"Hi, Jess." Bella said.

"Hi Sage! Hi Bella!" Mike called happily, walking up to us.

"Hi Mike." We all said at the same time. 'Omygosh we said Hi like seven times!'

"Come meet some of the kids from the rez." He said.

"Okay." We followed him down the beach where a few kids were standing around, talking.

"Hey everyone, this is Sage and Bella, if you didn't know her." Mike introduced me, adding Bella into the introduction, and the kids turned around. I recognized a few of them - like Angela Weber - but the six boys were strangers to me and I assumed them to be from the rez. **(AN- All of them - ie, Quil, Embry, Jacob, ect- are already werewolves in this story.)**

"Hi." I said. They were all russet-skinned with black hair, they were also freakishly tall - not that I can complain, I am freakish myself. The older boys nodded in response and the younger ones greeted me with a friendly "Hello."

I gave a weird look to one of the boys, who was staring at me with wide eyes, the other kids from the rez were also looking at him curiously until Mike said.

"Let's go for a hike!"

"Yeah." Jessica agreed quickly, hopping to Mike's side. "We're coming, too." Eric said, Tyler right behind him. "You comin' Sage?" Mike ask. I looked at the boy who was still staring at me, then looked back at Mike and said. "No. You guys go ahead." I said. Bella looked at me, then at the boy - then said. "I'll go with them."

After the group of hikers left, along with the other kids from the rez. I turned to the boy. "What?" I ask defensively. "Huh?" He sounded confused. "Why do you keep staring at me?" I ask. "Sorry. I'm Jacob." He held out his hand. "Sage." I said and shook his hand. His skin was hot, like super hot. "You want to go for a walk?" He ask. "Umm, okay." I said.

We started walking along the beach in a strangely comfortable silence until we came across a piece of driftwood to sit on.

"I've never seen you on the reservation, or in Forks, where are you from?" Jacob ask. Now that I really looked at him, he was cute.

"Spain." I said.

"That explains your accent." He said, then chuckled.

"Why did you move here?" He ask. Yep, definitely cute.

"I dunno, I'm disowned so….I can pretty much go anywhere I want." I explained. It's weird, I felt like I could say anything to him (but I didn't, I wasn't going to blurt my secret out in front of him, gosh).

"Oh, why did your parents disown you?" He ask. "My mom got pregnant with me at sixteen and she wanted to travel so I was emancipated at fourteen." I explained.

"That's sad, but cool at the same time." He said, his tone brightening at the end. "You can do whatever you want, whenever you want to." He said.

"Yeah, that's the good part about it." I said, smiling.

"Come on, Sage! It's going to start raining! Do you need a ride!?" Mike called a little too loudly, coming towards us. I saw Bella by the Volvo. I stood up as Mike reached us and said. "No, I rode with Bella. Thanks though."

Mike looked at Jacob, then at me, then said. "Well you guys better go before the rain starts."

"Alright. See you later Jacob." I said and waved to him.

"Wait, when can I see you again?" He ask, catching up to Mike and I as we walked back to the cars. I chewed my lip, I'm not very good at setting places or dates. "Come _on,_ Sage." Mike urged and grabbed my elbow to pull me as he looked up at the clouds. I ground my teeth and yanked my elbow away from his grasp hard enough to make him stumble forward. "Here's my number, call me tomorrow, when I don't have someone waiting on me." I said, writing my cell phone number on a crumbled up piece of paper I had in my jacket pocket. I smiled at Jacob and said. "See you later."

**Jacob POV**

Quil, Embry, Sam, Paul, Jared, and I were on La Push beach talking to some kids from Forks who had come down for a "A nice, warm, sunny day on the beach" as the girl - Jessica - had put it. All the while I was thinking "Yeah, a warm day in Forks is a cold day in hell". But they still sat on the beach, talking, even when a cold breeze whipped around us - they just sat there. Of course, the cold didn't bother me, I was 108 degrees F, but I figured it would bother regular humans.

"Hi Jessica!" A smooth voice called from behind us, Jessica got up quickly to greet whoever it was. "Hi Sage. Hi Bella." I recognized that last name, my dad had given her his old pick up, but I didn't know a Sage.

"Hi Jess." Bella said. Mike, a boy that drove the group of kids here, got up with an excited expression on his face.

"Hi Sage! Hi Bella!" Mike called, clearly happy to see this girl, even with my back to him it was obvious that he liked her.

"Hi Mike." They seemed to like to say Hi.

"Come meet some of the kids from the rez." Mike suggested. "Kay." I saw Quil and Embry looking at the girl over my shoulder and smiling. 'She must be hot or something.' I thought and mentally rolled my eyes at them. I turned around to look at her and I felt my eyes go wide, then my thoughts became incoherent. She was more than hot (well she was really hot) but she was beautiful. She had long flowing black hair and dark eyes, she had perfect features, high cheekbones, and a strong nose, her body was super skinny (but the good kind, not the 'I'm starving myself to be pretty' kind.) but muscled. She was-well- beautiful, and I had imprinted on her. On a girl that I didn't even know. 'Well, duh. That is what imprinting is.' I told myself in my head.

"Hey everyone, this is Sage, and Bella, if you didn't know her." I heard Mike say, 'Sage is a pretty name.' I thought dreamily, then thought. 'What the hell?! Ugh! I sound like a teenage girl!'

Sage smiled at the group and said hi, but I was busy trying to figure out how to close my mouth. My friends greeted her and then I felt them all give me curious looks, inluding Sage.

"Let's go for a hike!" Mike said enthusiastically. "Yeah." Jessica said and bounced to Mike's side, Eric and tyler agreed to go along with the rest of my La Push friends. Bella looked at Sage then me, and said "I'll go with them." My eyes followed the retreating figures of the hikers and then flashed back to Sage, who was now standing right in front of me.

"What?" She ask defensivley, crossing her thin arms across her chest. "Huh?" I ask, confused.

"Why do you keep staring at me?" She ask, sounding annoyed.

"Sorry. I'm Jacob." I held out my hand and she shook it, saying. "Sage."

"You want to go for a walk?" I ask. "Umm, okay." She agreed and we started walking in comfortable silence down the beach. We eventually found a piece of driftwood and I started questioning her. I learned that she was disowned at fourteen because of a crappy mom and can live wherever she wants, I also learned that she is from Spain. She was a very interesting girl.

"Come on, Sage! It's going to start raining! Do you need a ride!?" Mike called, walking towards us. Sage stood and said. "No, I rode with Bella, but thanks." She smiled like that was some kind of inside joke.

Mike looked between the two of us, narrowed his eyes, then said. "Well you guys better go before the rain starts."

"Alright. See you later Jacob." Sage said and waved to me as she turned around. I didn't want her to leave, and I sure as hell wanted to know one thing.

"Wait, when can I see you again?" I ask walked quickly up to her. She chewed her lip, obviously deciding something. "Come _on,_ Sage." Mike urged and grabbed Sage's elbow to pull her as he looked up at the clouds, I felt a wave of jealousy wash through me when he touched her. She and I ground our teeth at the same time. Sage yanked her elbow away from his grasp so hard that Mike stumbled forward a couple inches, I smiled. "Here's my number, call me tomorrow, when I don't have someone waiting on me." Sage said, writing her cell phone number on a crumbled up piece of paper she pulled out of her jacket. She handed it to me, smiled, and said. "See you later."

'I can't wait to see her again.' I thought as I watched her walk to the car.


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay! New chappie! *Does a happy dance* **

**I know, I didn't update. But I have a good excuse! I was at my grandmother's house for a sleepover! We played UNO! AND HAD PUMPKIN PANCAKES! Hmm, try saying Pumpkin pancakes five times fast. Pumpkin pancakes! Pumpkin pancakes! Pumpkin pancakes! Pumpkin pancakes! Whew! That was hard. So then when I got home and tried to get on FanFiction, my security system had a fit and wouldn't let me load the page. Stupid security. **

**Oh and one more thing, I rewrote the last few chapters, don't worry, I only added Bella into the whole story so if you want to go back and skim, you can. Nothing happened really. I added her in because I need her character for a later chapter. P.S This story would take place in the time period of New Moon, so yes, Edward will be leaving. *Sad*. But he comes back. So while this is happening to Sage, the beginning of new moon is happening with Bella. If that makes sense.**

**This way to the disclaimer; I own nothing.**

**And here is the story.**

After Bella dropped me off at the Cullen's house, she went home to do her homework. Which is the same thing that I had to do. I sighed and sat on the floor, starting my math homework. When Alice got home, we did our homework together and she told me about the birthday party she was throwing for Bella, and of course, I was invited. I lived there. After school the next day, I faked sick so I could go back to the house for two reasons : One, Alice wanted to take me shopping. *Shiver* And two, I wanted to be alone in case Jacob called. I couldn't describe the feeling I got when I was near him, it was strange, but it felt…right. Alice went ahead and took Esme and Rosalie shopping again, Carlisle went to the hospital, and Edward, Emmet, and Jasper were still hunting.

So I was sitting on the couch in the empty living room---turning my cheap, silver cell phone, over and over in my hands. I didn't have anything else to do. "Stupid super-brain, made me finish my homework too fast, now I've got nothing to do." I grumbled to myself.

I was just about to go get a bowl of cheerios when the phone vibrated on my fingertips. I flipped it open and said. "Hello?"

"Hi Sage." The sound of Jacob's voice was almost a relief through the receiver.

"Hey, Jacob."

"Um, do you want to come meet me at the beach?" He ask.

"Sure." I answered a little too quickly. 'Why am I acting so weird?' I thought.

"Okay I'll see you soon." He said.

"I'll be right there." I said. "Bye." I hung up the phone and jumped up, slipped on my sneakers, grabbed my coat, and jerked the front door open.

"Aww, dammit." I cursed under my breath when I saw the dark, rain-drenched clouds. "Flying in those clouds will be hell." I looked to my right and saw a pair of car keys on the little table that sat by the door and smiled. "I don't think Edward will mind if I take his car for a drive." I said and grabbed the keys, running for the garage door.

The Volvo's engine purred to life and I started to edge it out of the garage carefully. "Woah!" I exclaimed when the car lurched forward at the small amount of pressure my foot was putting on the pedal (I am not used to driving fast cars…or cars in general.) I tapped the gas pedal a little bit and pulled out of the garage, getting the hang of the little car.

I got the car to La push fairly quick and hopped out as soon as the engine shut off.

"Sage!" I heard Jacob's voice behind me and whipped around, smiling.

"Hi Jake!" I called and loped over to him.

"Hey." He said and smiled widely, but as I approached him his nose wrinkled and he narrowed his eyes for just a second, then smiled again.

"Come on, I want to talk to you about something." He said quickly and took my hand in his rather warm one. He led me down the beach to the same piece of driftwood we had sat on before.

"Okay, what did you want to talk to me about?" I ask when I sat down next to him.

"Okay, how do I start this, I- Sage?" Jacob ask with concern in his voice. My face had gone blank and my vision was blurring like it had before, when Edward saved me from being crushed by a car.

"Sage?" I heard Jake's voice, but it was in the distance - like a T.V that you turned down so it is background noise and then his voice disappeared completely.

Again, I saw the red and gold feathers of the Egyptian bird that was in my vision before. "Hello, Phoenix." I heard a boy's voice say as my vision cleared. I saw the same house with the square doorways, and Benjamin was standing in the door again. The bird tweeted and Benjamin ruffled the feathers on it's head like a pet dog.

'Hey, maybe this bird is his pet.' I thought. "Here you go." Benjamin set a bowl of some kind of food on the ground in front of the bird. 'Yep, the bird is his pet.' The bird had started to eat when a voice yelled from behind it. "There it is! There's the Phoenix!"

'The Phoenix?! I thought that was a myth?!' I thought.

The bird's head snapped up and it spun around. A group of men were running toward the house, they had dark olive skin and black hair. The bird screeched and leaped into the air, flapping it's wings furiously as it rose into the air. It flew over the men and that familiar, red element ignited on the bird's feathers as it blasted fire down toward the ground at them.

The vision fuzzed and I drew in a deep breath. I felt exhausted! 'That must have been why I fell out of the sky the other day! These visions sure do take a lot out of me.' I thought.

"Sage?!" Jacob was crouched in front of me, his hands on my shoulders. "Ugh." I mumbled, closing my eyes and putting my hand on my forehead. And then, I was out like a light (I never really got that expression- wouldn't it be "on like a light"? Because lights are usually on, illuminating things- Oh never mind.)

**Jacob POV:**

I had met Sage on La Push beach when I noticed something strange, she smelled like the leeches (Vamps for those who don't know the Quileute term for them). 'Why the hell does she smell like one of them?!' I thought. My eyes narrowed for just a second but then I fixed my expression - I could talk to her about it later- and said. "Come on, I want to talk to you about something." Then I led her to the piece of driftwood that we had sat on the first day I met her, which was yesterday - but still.

"Okay, how do I start this, I- Sage?" I had just started explaining to Sage how I imprinted on her when her face just went blank and her eyes glazed over. "Sage?" She wasn't answering me. "What the- Sage?!" I crouched down in front of her and started shaking her shoulders but she just stared blankly down the beach.

I sat in front of her, thinking about what to do when Sage blinked. "Sage?!" I sounded really frantic, I _felt_ really frantic. "Ugh." She mumbled and fell forward into my arms. "Oh god." I said to myself. Then I picked her up (she was really light!) and laid her in the back seat of my car. "Should I take her to the hospital?" I was asking myself questions the whole car ride back to my house. "No it's probably not that serious, she just passed out. Or is it serious?" I was so busy talking to myself like a crazy person that I almost hit a squirrel.

'Great now I am a crazy person who talks to himself and a reckless driver.' I thought as I approached my house.

I got Sage from the backseat and then put her on the couch in my little living room/TV room. "Dad?" I called to Billy who was probably in the kitchen…. "Yes?" I heard him call from the kitchen behind me - I was right. "Come here for a sec." I said nervously. "What? Oh." He said as he rolled into the living room. "What happened?" He ask.

"I don't know, she just fainted." I said.

"After you told her?" Billy ask with a laugh.

"No, I hadn't even started that part yet. She just got a blank look on her face, then fell over." I explained, sitting down next to Sage on the couch.

"Oh, I don't know what to do, should we-" Billy was interrupted my a loud knock on the door, followed by. "Hey Jake! Are you home yet?" Quil and Embry. "No!" I called back. The door opened and they immediately started arguing about something. Their banter (He he, banter. It makes them sound like chickens.) cut off when they saw the unconscious girl on the couch.

"Dude, what happened?" Quil ask.

"She passed out. Before I told her." I added before they could ask.

"Why?" Embry ask.

"I don't know." I said, looking own at Sage.

"Well shouldn't you take her to the doctor or the hospital?" Embry suggested. "No! No doctors, no hospitals! I'm fine." Sage yelled from her spot on the couch, making us all jump five feet in the air.

"What the hell!" Quil yelled angrily at her outburst - he doesn't like being scared.

"Are you okay?" I ask Sage.

"I'm fine." She said and proved it by standing up and spinning in a circle. "I'm fine, no hospitals." She repeated.

"Alright, then come outside I want to talk to you...again." I said and grabbed her hand. I led her out into the back yard, where Quil and Embry couldn't hear us.

"Okay, I promise I won't faint this time, what did you want to tell me?" I ask.

"Sage I am a werewolf." I blurted out. She blinked.

"A werewolf?" She ask with a contemplating expression on her face. "Your last name is Black." She said quietly.

"Yeah...?" I was confused.

"As in, Ephraim Black?" She ask.

"He was my great grandfather, how do you know his name?" I was really confused.

"He was a werewolf, right?" My mouth fell open.

"Yeah, he was a werewolf. How do you know all this?" I ask, shocked.

"First tell me why you are telling me you are a werewolf." She said seeming to get confused at her own sentence. "You know what I mean."

"I am telling you because I imprinted on you." I explained.

"Huh?" She said.

"Imprinting is something that a werewolf does when he finds his soul mate, but it's a lot stronger than that." I clarified.

"You...imprinted on me?" She ask slowly.

"Yes." She looked at me.

"I know about your great grandfather because I am living with the Cullens." She said quickly.

"What!" That's why she smelled like that!

"That is too dangerous!" I exclaimed. One of them could hurt her! "You have to move out." I said. I finally told her that I imprinted on her and we were having a fight, great.

"It is not dangerous, not for me anyway." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"How are you different than any other human, and why are you living with them in the frst place!" I was probably being irrational, I couldn't tell, I was too busy being irrational.

"I am living with them because I am not any other human!" I could tell she was starting to get angry at my tone.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I ask, calming down a bit. She sighed, reached into her boot, and pulled out a small pocket knife. She reached around and cut her shirt down the back in two places. "What are you doing?" I ask as she finished cutting slits in the back of her shirt. "This." She answered and rolled her shoulders back. My mouth fell open as I saw the pair of gold and red wings on her back. "Oh my god. What, how, why-" I stuttered. "I am an experiment. I was created at an Itex labratory." Sage said. "And that's not all, my name is not Sage, it's Phoenix." She explained. My brain was in shock, I couldn't form any coherent thoughts. "Itex?" I stuttered, Itex was a company that made anything and everything-including beautiful have-bird girls too.

**Phoenix POV (Have I been putting Sage POV? I meant to put Phoenix POV because her real name is Phoenix. Sorry if I have been putting Sage POV!)**

"What did they do to you?" He ask quietly as he looked at the bright red and gold wings on my back - I can see why, I must have a wingspan of at least fourteen feet, I haven't measured them recently.

"You don't want to know the specifics, but in general - I was created with four percent bird DNA in me. And now I am nintey six percent human, four percent.....other." I explained, blocking out the memories that sentence brought back.

"Other? Don't you know what kind of bird DNA they put in you?" He ask, he was still looking at my exotic wings.

"No one knows for sure. A crazy scientist went off on his own and created me without Itex's consent. I'm guessing they killed him and they never found any information on what I was. But they do have a theory - which I am starting to believe." I trailed off, looking down at the ground and remembering the bird in my vision today - with it's blazing feathers, it had to be the Phoenix.

"What is the theory?" He ask, I was surprised he was taking this so well. I was part unkown species of bird for god sakes! And of course his eyes were still glued to my wings.

"They think that I am four percent......Phoenix." I said quietly, looking up at his reaction through my long lashes. He blinked.

"Wait. Phoenix? That's your name." Ugh, he wasn't getting it.

"No, I mean my name is Phoenix, but they think that I am part Phoenix - the mythological creature from ancient Egypt." I offered, his face was comprehensive and then shocked.

"That's impossible! It's a myth." He scoffed nervously. "Why do you say you believe?"

"Because, I have these - um- visions." I said quietly, he looked surprised enough already.

"Visions...like one of those people who can see the future? What are they called? Umm, Clairvoyant? You're Clairvoyant?" He ask.

"No, but yes - in a way. Uh, I see visions of the past." I stuttered.

"Visions of the past? That's wierd." He said with a smile.

"Get used to it. Everything about me is wierd." I said, I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"So, what do you're backwards clairvoyance have to do with the Phoenix?" He ask jokingly.

"Well today, when we were at the beach - I was having one of my...backward visions. That's why I was all spacey. Anyway, I keep having these visions of this bird in ancient Egypt. In today's vision I saw this bird and these men were coming after it and it's feathers, like, lit on fire. And that's where the vision stopped. It will probably pick up where it left off soon." I explained.

"So, the Phoenix is real?" He ask, raising an eyebrow.

"I think it at least _used_ to be." I said.

"You are really confusing." He said, shaking his head.

"Yeah. I know." I said quietly. And then he surprised me, he wrapped his arms around me in a huge bear hug. I hugged him back and then said. "Okay, you're choking me."

He laughed and let go. "No matter how wired or confusing you are, I'll always be right there with you. Because that's what imprinting is. You're my soul mate." He said with more emotion than I am comfortable with. And just as I was about to replya voice that has become oh so familiar over the years appeared behind us.

"Aww, isn't that cute? Soul mates. Just darling." My nostrils flaired and my lip curled over my teeth as I flipped around to face the devil herself - Chloe. Chloe was a snow leopard/human experient, used as an assasin at Itex headquarters by the Director herself. She and her fleet were specialized in killing pesky runaway experiment like me and destroying any humans that had found out about them.

Her eyes were golden colored and looked innocent to humans. She had white hair with grayish spots on it that were only visible in direct sunlight. Her body was tall and cat-like. When she was in full on leapard mode, those golden eyes turned into nasty, yellow, cat eyes with mean, black slits cutting through them, razor sharp claws would emerge from her long fingers, two sharp canines grew long from her sneering mouth, and - when fully morphed- she had white and gray spotted ears and a tail. And that's exactly what she looked like now.

Chloe has powers, too - like any other Itex experiement. Her's were not as special or powerful as mine, but they were still advanced and she was well trained in fighting. She always managed to escape in our battles but I didn't plan on letting her get away this time. Not after she had seen me, with my wings out, with Jake. No way was she coming out of this fight alive.

"Long time no see, Phoenix." Chloe sneered.

"Chloe." I greeted with malice in my voice, her fleet were nothing more than big robots with guns. Nothing that I couldn't handle.

"I see you've been getting to know the locals." She said wih a nasty, haggish smile. "You do realize we have to kill him now. Hm, I am dissapointed in you, Phoenix. Not once have you made me kill a human, and now your record will be broken."

"You stay away from him!" I moved so that I was blocking Jacob with myself, spreading my wings in a protective position.

"Phoenix what is she?" He ask quietly.

"That's Chloe, an assasin from Itex." I explained uner my breath, then he seemed to realize my position in front of him and the guns that the dog-robots were pointing at us. "Phoenix!" He objected and grabbed the tops of my arms to move me. "No, Jacob she will kill you!" Chloe laughed as he pushed me out of the line of fire. I heard a gun shot. "Jacob!" I screamed and jumped in front of him again, the speeding bullet heading right for me.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey! New chapter! Yay! So this will probably be the only chapter until next week because I am going to my Grandma's house in WV for thanksgiving. Yes, I did take some lines from the birthday part in the book, but it is from Phoenix POV, anyway - I do not own anything.**

**Read on!**

As the bullet came toward me I raised one hand in the air, the bullet stopped mid-flight and as my concentration increased, the bullet melted. I heard Jake let out a breath he had been holding in behind me.

"Been practicing, Phoenix?" Chloe growled angrily. "Yeah why don't you let me try that out you?" I said and she glanced down at the sizzling metal on the ground, fear flashed quickly in her eyes, but then disappeared as she looked at me coldly. "Please, like you could ever destroy me." She scoffed, gaining her full overly-confident self back. "You want to bet?" I challenged, I knew I was poking the bear. The black slits in her eyes got wider. Her fleet raised their guns. "Stand down!" She shouted. "I want to kill the little birdie myself." She crouched and then launched herself at me, claws extended. I smiled at the thought of boiling her from the inside out and then prepared myself, bending my knees I quickly threw my arm backward, moving both Jacob and I out of her way. She hit the ground and turned toward me again in a feline crouch.

Jacob was shaking violently behind me and I risked a glance back at him. Anger was clear on his face and I realized that was why he was shaking.

"Jake?" I ask cautiously.

"Let me help." He said stiffly.

"What?" I didn't get it, how could he help me in a fight? Oh.

"No! If they find out what you are then they will kill you - or worse - take you back to that hell hole. Let me take care of this, please." I whispered pleadingly.

He looked at me and then backed away from the emerging cat fight. (Get it cat fight? Cause she is part- oh you get it.)

Chloe growled and then pounced at me again. Did I mention that she could jump super-high? Yeah that was the cat thing kickin' in.

I leaped lightly into the air above her and flipped, grabbing her long hair and pulling her roughly to the ground. She shrieked horribly and then twisted out of my grip. Snarling, she swung one clawed hand at me, it caught the front of my shirt leaving three tears there. I looked down at my ruined shirt and then at her. 'Alice is going to kill me, this is her shirt.' I thought.

Chloe used my lapse in concentration to her advantage, jumping on top of me and pinning me to the ground. She raised her claw above my throat, looking me in the eye. That was her mistake. I looked at her cold eyes, feeling my body heat rise as I lit her insides on fire. "Ahhh!" Chloe let out a blood curdling scream and I threw her off of me. You see, that power can only work if I am looking the person in the eye, it will work without that but it takes extreme concentration - which I usually don't have.

I tumbled over so that I was pinning Chloe to the ground and said sarcastically. "It was nice knowing you, Chloe." Then, in one quick motion, I snapped her neck. I heard the movement of metal to my left and I jumped off the ground to face the demon dogs. As they raised their guns, I felt another wave of heat wash over me and flames erupted on my hands. Lifting the palms of my hands, I concentrated on the guns, and they melted onto the fur covering the dogs' robot bodies. The next thing I knew, the robots surrounded me and I heard a growling behind me.

I swirled around on my heel while blocking a blow to the stomach from one of the robots. Jacob had morphed into a giant wolf. Werewolf. Well, I guess he was more of a shape shifter because he looked like real wolf except…..super sized.

He growled again and leaped on one of the robots, ripping it apart. I joined him, kicking and punching the robots, and when that failed I started blasting fire balls at them, that worked. With Jake's help, the robots were quickly destroyed and his yard was left in a mess of half melted dog-robots. I turned to look at Jacob, he was standing beside me, still in wolf form. I could guess why, there were shreds of clothes scattered among the robot parts. I knew what I had to do, and it killed me. "Jake, I am sorry." I looked down at my shoes. He cocked his head to the side, made a bark/whining noise and then ran off to his house. I stood there waiting for him, thinking of how I was going to tell him that I had to leave.

He came back soon, in human form with clothes on. "What are you sorry for?" He ask as he joined me. "I haven't had a fight like that for a long time. Actually, I have never had a fight like that." He said with a smile. "I'm not sorry for that - well I am- but, Jake - I have to leave." I finally said, and looked up at him. His face was full of confusion and pain. "What?" He said after a long pause.

"They know where I am, if I stay-" I stopped and took a deep breath, then continued. "If I stay, when they come back again, I may not be able to save you. We came close enough there, and my staying puts you and you're friends and family in danger. I don't want that. And the only way to keep them from finding you, is for me to leave." I explained painfully. "No! No! We can fight them, don't leave." He said desperately. "No, you don't understand- they are relentless. No matter how many times you defeat them, they just come back stronger and stronger." I said.

"Then I'll come with you." He said firmly. That almost brought tears to my eyes. "Jake, you have a good thing here. You belong here, you have people who love you. If you come with me, you will be a life long refugee. I won't take away your life, your future. Jake, I will come back someday. But, until then…I have to go. It's for the best." I said, holding back the tears that threatened to pool in my eyes.

"But, I don't want a future without you." He said, taking my hand. (At any other time, I would have gagged) I looked into his eyes.

"You won't, and I will do everything I can to end this thing with Itex. I will come back, when it is safe." I assured him. Pain was written all over his face. "You promise?" He ask quietly, looking down.

"I promise." I said automatically, I knew it was a promise that I could and would fulfill.

"I love you, Phoenix." He said, his head snapping up to look me in the eye.

"I love you, too, Jake." I whispered, and then he kissed me. When his lips touched mine an electric shock went through me. I put my arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around my waist. A hodge-podge of emotions were flying through me, love, pain, anger, sadness - all of them were strong feelings that I didn't particularly like feeling. When the kiss ended we were both breathing hard. "Goodbye, Jacob." I said and pulled away. "Goodbye, Phoenix." I heard him whisper as I took off into the sky.

I flew back to La Push to get Edward's Volvo and drove it back to the Cullen's house to say goodbye. As I pulled up to the house Alice ran down the porch stairs to meet me. "Phoenix! Come on, I have to get you ready for the party!" She said, happily trotting up to the driver side window. "Where were you? What happened?" She ask, finally taking in my emotionless expression. I shut off the engine and slowly got out of the car. "Oh my god! What did you do to this shirt?!" She exclaimed grabbing the bottom of the shirt to examine the damage. I ignored her question temporarily. "I was at La Push." I said flatly, I didn't really feel like talking. "Why?" She ask. "Jacob called me." Her nose wrinkled. "Oh yeah, I smell it now." She made an ick face and then ask. "Why did he call you?"

"He wanted to see me so he could tell me that he imprinted on me." I explained. "What?! He imprinted on you?" She seemed surprised. "Yeah. But, Alice while I was there an assassin from Itex showed up with her fleet of dog robots." I said slowly. "Oh, that's how you ruined my shirt. So, what happened?" She urged.

"I have to leave, Alice." I said quickly. "What! Why? You just got here!" She complained. "Because, Itex knows that I am here and it won't be long before they send more of them." I took in her worried expression. "Don't worry Alice, Jake and I killed them all." I assured her.

"No, it's not that, it's just - you're going to miss Bella's birthday party and I bought you a really cute dress and everything." Her bottom lip stuck out and her eyebrows pulled together. It was pitiful. "Okay, fine. I'll stay for the party but then I have to leave." I said, man, was she persuasive or what?

"Yay!" Alice was happy and then sad again. "Will you ever come back?"

"Yes, after I clear some of this Itex stuff up. I'll do some research, blow up some headquarters, and be back here by next year." I smiled trying to brighten the moment. Alice gave me a dazzling smile and then took my hand, dragging me back to the house. "As long as you come back, I don't think Jake will be able to go very long without you - he did imprint with you." She pushed the front door open.

"Could we tell everyone that I am leaving after the party, I don't want to ruin the mood." I said once I was n Alice's room, being shoved into a dark purple dress. "Ow!" I complained as she bent my arm the wrong way. "Is this a dress or a torture machine?" I ask. "There it's on. And we can tell Bella and Edward after the party-they are both at Bella's house right now, but, I'm sure everyone else already heard our conversation so all you have to do is say goodbye to them. Actually, the only person you have to explain it to is Bella, Edward will hear it in my head." She said, shoving a pair of black heels on my feet.

"Okay. I can do that." I said confidently.

"Good, now, let's go set up, Edward and Bella will be here soon." She said and bounded out of the room. I followed her downstairs and she was carrying two bowls of roses. "There are more in the kitchen, could you get them?" She ask as she sat the two crystal on a table she had set up with presents and a cake- they didn't even eat.

"Sure."

After Alice and I set up with paper lanterns, pink candles - which Alice insisted that I light with my powers, and pink roses (all the pink was starting to hurt my eyes, Alice took me upstairs to do my hair. "Umm, Alice? I didn't get Bella anything." I said as she curled my hair. "Don't worry, Emmett wanted to count you in on the group present that he, Jasper, and Rosalie, are giving Bella." She said.

"Oh, okay. I'll have to thank him." I said.

"Oh! They're here, come on!" Alice said excitedly, she grabbed my arm, turned off the curling iron, and dragged me downstairs.

"Careful, Alice! My legs don't move that fast!" I said as she literally ran across the room.

I looked around, Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, Carlisle, and Esme were all standing around, looking sad - I could guess why. Alice cantered over to Jasper and took his hand.

I looked down at the floor and went to stand by the wall next to the table with the shiny silver packages on it.

As soon as Edward and Bella walked through the door, everyone's faces lit up and we chorused, "Happy Birthday Bella!" She blushed and looked down at the wood floor. Edward put an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. Esme walked forward and hugged Bella and then Carlisle put an arm around Bella's shoulders. I heard him whisper jokingly. "Sorry about this, Bella. We couldn't rein Alice in."

Emmett had a huge grin on his face and Rosalie was just looking at Bella blankly.

"I have to step out for a second. Don't do anything funny while I am gone." Emmett said with a wink at Alice.

"I'll try." Bella said with a smile, still blushing.

Alice skipped forward, smiling brightly. "Time to open presents." She said putting her hand under Bella's arm and pulling her to the table next to me. Bella smiled at me, I am guessing it felt more comfortable to have someone who looked as uncomfortable at a party as she felt.

"Alice, I know I told you I didn't want anything-" Bella started but Alice interrupted quickly.

"But I didn't listen. Open it." She said smugly, taking the small camera Bella had and replacing it with a small silver box.

She read the tag and then tore the packaging open. She stared into the box, which I could now see that was empty except for a piece of paper with numbers on it. I still didn't know what present my name was on so I looked at the tag on the paper Bella had put on the table. Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Phoenix.. Were the names printed in beautiful handwriting on the tag. I smiled at my name and looked back at Bella.

"Um….thanks." Bella said, Jasper laughed and I saw Rosalie smile.

"It's a stereo for your truck, Emmett's installing it now so you can't return it." Jasper told her.

"Thanks, Jasper, Rosalie, Phoenix. Thanks Emmett!" She called at the end, I heard Emmett laugh outside.

Bella laughed and Alice said. "Open mine and Edward's next."

"You promised." Bella said looking at Edward.

Before Edward could answer, Emmett bounded through the door.

"Just in time!" He said with a grin.

"I didn't spend a dime." Edward assured Bella who took a deep breath.

"Give it to me." Alice handed her the square silver box and Bella stuck her finger under the paper, jerking it up. "Shoot." She muttered, pulling her finger out. A small dot of blood was oozing out of the paper cut the wrapper had caused. I sucked in a breath.

"No!" Edward shouted, he shoved Bella backwards, sending her flying into the table of crystal bowls and plates. The table's front legs broke and Bella slid into the mess of shattered glass, her arm bleeding like crazy.

Jasper ran forward, slamming into Edward - it sounded like to rocks clashing together. I bent down next to Bella, grabbing the arm that didn't have glass in it and pulled her up off the floor. I heard snarling noises behind us but I ignored them. Bell a was staring with wide eyes at the crazed vampire. "Bella, come on." I said and pulled her along the wall toward the kitchen.

She was frozen to the spot where she stood. Emmett got a hold of Jasper who was still snarling. "Come on, Bella." I said again and this time she moved with me to the kitchen.

Once we got to the kitchen safely I set her down at the table. "Oh, that looks bad." I said, looking at the wound on her forearm. "Oh god." She whispered, staring into the other room. I listened but all noises had stopped. I smiled at Bella comfortingly. She looked badly shaken.

Carlisle came into the kitchen and sat down on the other side of Bella. "Bella, do you want me to take you to the hospital, or would you like me to take care of it here?" He ask.

"Here, please." She whispered.

"I don't want to see this, I'm going outside." I said quietly and walked out the back door.

'What a day.' I thought tiredly as I sat on the cool grass outside the house, looking up at the - for once- starry sky, holding back a breakdown.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi! I am back from vacation! I was dying to write all week, but sadly, there is no internet in the country…..so I had to wait until I got home. Okay, go ahead and read away,**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following contents (except the stuff that came from my weird brain).**

"Goodbye." I said, standing in front of the Cullens - well most of the Cullens - Edward was taking Bella home. I had already gotten my old black backpack filled with the necessities; clothes that Alice gave me, toothbrush and toothpaste, hairbrush, portable food that Esme had kindly rounded up for me, bottles of water, and a map. They all smiled at me sadly and Esme stepped forward, pulling me into a hug and saying a quick goodbye. Alice hugged me, too, and the rest of the Cullens said their goodbyes and I turned, taking a running start, I leaped into the cool night air. My wings unfurled automatically and instinctively started flapping up and down.

I knew I wanted to go back and see Jacob once more before I left, and I definitely wanted him to kiss me again. But, I knew that another goodbye would just hurt the both of us, so I swooped in the air, facing away from the beach where we had met.

"Okay, where to go first." I said to myself, trying to figure out where to look for one of the head Itex buildings. "Think big crowds." I muttered as I tilted my wings to avoid a small rain cloud. Itex liked to hide themselves in largely populated places - right under peoples noses. I sighed as I realized where I had to go. "Ugh, New York." I groaned. New York was - and still is - one of my least favorite places. You wanta know why? The two main reasons are simple - it's noisy, and it's crowded. Nuff' said.

I swerved so I was facing south, headed for NYC.

'Let's see, as the crow flies (haha, I always loved that saying) New York City is 2493.563 miles away, divide that by the velocity of ninety miles per hour (Ninety miles per hour is the speed I am flying at - excuse me for my nerdy math talk) and you come out with exactly twenty seven hours, forty two minutes, and twenty three seconds (What? Didn't I mention my excelled intelligence?) . So if the minimum amount of sleep the average human needs is six hours, I can probably get by on stopping to eat and sleep for five hours every six hours of flight time. Which means I will have to stop four times and will get to NYC in forty four hours.' I decided mentally, pumping my wings harder to reach my goal of ninety miles per hour.

I wasn't sure how far I had gotten, my thoughts were clouded by the drowsiness that had overcome me. With a yawn I pulled my wings in and dropped silently to the ground. I landed in a moonlit meadow and lifted my wrist to look at my watch, 2:30am. 'Yes!' I thought with a mental air punch. I had been flying for exactly six hours since Bella's birthday party at 8:30pm. 'One checkpoint down, three to go.' I thought. My stomach grumbled at the same time I yawned again.

"Hm, food or sleep?" I contemplated to myself. "Food."

I walked into the woods and found a small dead tree. I quickly snapped off some off the dry limbs and placed them in a pile back in the meadow. I snapped my fingers and the limbs instantly lit on fire with a crackling sound as it blackened the dry wood. I dug through my bag for the hot dogs Esme had given me and a bottle of water. I found them and then stuck a hot dog on a sharp stick. I held it over the flame as I watched the fire dance, my eyelids drooping heavily.

After I ate I put the fire out and settled into the top of a tall maple tree for a - hopefully - good night's sleep.

I woke up to bright sunshine in my eyes and I was immediately reminded of the first day I met Jacob, it had been sunny that day. A pain shot through me as I was reminded that I may not see him for years. I shoved all thoughts of Jacob out of my head with difficulty and checked my watch 7:20am. I had been on the ground for a little less than five hours. I grabbed my backpack from where it hung on a branch next to me, and then dropped to the ground.

I pulled the map that the Cullens had supplied me with out of the front zipper pocket of the backpack and unfolded it.

According to the map and my calculations (that sounded geeky), I was in Helena, Montana.

'So in six hours, I should be in,' I thought, tracing my finger along the map. 'Pierre, South Dakota.' I folded the map and stuffed it back in the pocket, and then pulled the last few hot dogs out of the bag. Did you know you can eat hot dogs right out of the package without cooking them? I learned that when I was eight. Of course humans run the risk of getting Listeriosis from bacteria that may or may not exist on the meat. Luckily I have a very strong immune system, it's one of the things I was "Born" with.

I do prefer them over the fire - they taste better. But, when you are a genetically mutated bird kid who's going to be off schedule, in danger of being found by evil robots, and you want to die of starvation, you'd eat anything raw.

I was about to take off, and then I noticed the burnt pile of branches that used to be my source of warmth. I walked back to the burnt out fire and held my hand up. 'No need to leave bread crumbs for the enemy.' I thought as smoke engulfed the wood and ash. The smoke cleared and the fire pit that was once there, was completely disintegrated. I turned, clutching the hot dog package in my left hand, I swung my backpack over my shoulder and took off, pumping my wings to gain altitude.

When I was drifting along at a steady ninety miles per hour, I pulled up the tab on the already open package of hot dogs and started munching on them. They weren't that bad, not compared to other things I've eaten in my past. I started to reminisce about the time I ate a grasshopper and then decided against it as I remembered how I described it as, Gooey on the inside, Crunchy on the outside. What can I say, I was only seven at the time.

I was humming along to a song I had heard a while back when I heard a blast - like gunfire. 'Oh, not more guns again.' I thought begrudgingly. I heard the faint whistling of a bullet and I swerved quickly as it zipped past me.

I spun in the air, and was surprised to see - Erasers? With wings? 'I thought they discontinued these guys' I thought as one of the furballs growled at me.

Their flying was clumsy and unorganized, like their wings had been sown on. Maybe they had.

"So the Director decided to bring you guys back, huh? With some new improvements? Well isn't that nice for you." I said casually, crossing my arms over my chest and looking them over. There were ten of them. And they only had one gun. How pathetic. The robots had guns attached to them.

"Shut up, freak!" One of them snarled and I laughed.

"Are you seriously calling me a freak? I mean I'm not disagreeing, but, you are the ones with patchwork wings and a muzzle." I said with a smile. I had forgotten how fun it was to mess with these guys, all the robots did was say : Surrender Now, or be terminated. I mean how un-fun is that?

Another one of the Erasers growled, showing it's nasty yellow teeth.

"Okay, toothbrush much?" I ask waving my hand in front of my face. All of them snarled and growled and one of them lunged forward at me.

I spun around, bringing my left leg around and whacking the Eraser smack in the chest with it. The air whooshed out of him in a huff. And the rest of the dogs started surrounding me.

Two came at me from the sides and I tucked my wings in, dropping a few feet before bringing them out again and flying around the back of them.

I kicked one of them in the tailbone with the heel of my foot and it yelped, dropping about fifteen feet.

I sensed one of them behind me and I curled my right hand into a fist, bringing it around I punched the thing square in the muzzle and I heard a snap as it broke. "Oops." I said with fake innocence. He flew backwards toward the other ones.

I did a 360, the one with the gun was aiming right at me. I snarled as I felt two hairy arms grab me from behind, folding my wings in roughly, and the shooter cocked the gun.

I quickly tucked my legs in and swung them forward, building as much momentum as I could in a mili-second, I brought them back - right into the Eraser's knee caps, breaking them. He howled and dropped - me with him, still trapped in his arms. I heard the gun fire just as we dropped.

The Eraser's hold loosened and I managed to free one hand.

My hand flew up to the Eraser's face like I was going to slap him, but instead I put it over his eyes and felt heat rush to my palm as I burnt his eyeballs. Some of my powers are not pretty.

He let out a horrible screech that hurt my eardrums and let go of me completely. I spread my wings, catching an updraft and brought both of my feet down on the Eraser's head - sending him plummeting to his death.

The other Erasers were surrounding me now and I knew that I was too close to the ground to survive another drop, so I zipped forward toward the gunman as fast as I could and, with a quick to his wrist, caused him to drop the weapon.

He growled and lunged forward. Then fire erupted on my palms and with a pushing motion, flames flew forward like a flamethrower and hit the Eraser. He was quickly engulfed by the fire and dropped to the ground, flaming.

I brought the fire around in a circle and most of the Erasers recoiled from the flames - except three unlucky now-toasted-Erasers.

'Five down, five to go.' I thought.

One of the Erasers that were left lunged at me, I flipped sideways into the air over him and sent a wave of flames crashing down on him. He dropped to the ground, screaming.

I lurched back into an upright position and the four last Erasers all lunged at me. I spun, raising my hands as I turned - a wall of flames surrounded me and I heard yelps and screams as the last four Erasers hit it and dropped like flies.

My hands came back down to my sides slowly and the wall around me lowered with them until there were no flames left.

I took a deep breath and thought, 'Well that put me off schedule.'


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, I seriously have no excuse for not updating for this long, but, here is a new chapter, so, forgive me! And get this, I was looking at weird but cool girl's names today, and Phoenix is actually a name! And Pillar, who names their kid Pillar? **

I managed to control my lungs long enough to get a gasp of humid air, I was starting to hope it would be my last, but, no such luck. I choked on some of my own blood that emerged in my throat and groaned, spitting it out. I waited for my life to flash before my eyes, for the memories to come rushing back - they didn't. And I was grateful, I didn't need an instant replay for my mental announcers to point out the flaws. I just wanted it to end. I knew that promises would be broken and questions would always remain unanswered. I didn't honestly care right now, couldn't even remember what those promises were. Oh, yeah - to Jacob. I promised him I would come back. Couldn't very well keep that promise now that I was lying in a pool of my own blood in a forest somewhere in Italy. I wanted to scream, but my instinct pushed it back, so all that came out was a pitiful squeak.

What happened? I was so close to finding out where Itex headquarters had moved. I had followed the clues that I got from the Institute in New York to China, then to Hawaii, then Australia - and now here. But something had gone wrong, one false move - one new experiment, and it all went downhill. I guess they thought I was dead, so those things left me here- no use for me now.

They were weird creatures - reptilian , but fast. They were equipped with new weapons- guns with very big bullets, of which three were lodged in my body. And they could teleport.

My mind was screaming at my instinct to stop trying to help me, I wanted to give up, it was exhausting trying to hold on. But my healing powers were running on pure instinct, they were too weak to pull me back into a state of any kind of health, but they were just too damn strong to give up. So I was stuck like this until I ran out of blood I guess. What a suckish way to die, huh?

Then a totally random thought popped into my head, 'Will I go to heaven?' Hm, I guess I did need something to pass the time. I had never given much thought to Christianity - to any kind of religion. I always figured that- with the way my life was- if a higher power let me live like this - would I _want _to go to heaven? Did I even have a soul anyway? Don't you have to have a soul to get into heaven? Isn't that, like, your golden ticket? Your shiny card to get into the most exclusive club in the world? Didn't the bible say something about animals not having souls?

Weren't we _all_ animals? Especially me? Being part _bird_ and all? Wasn't I like the least likely person in the world to have a soul? And if I did have a soul, it would probably be totally rotten or something - I don't think I had very much use for a soul - does your soul need exercise? A healthy diet? A--

My ramblings were cut off when I heard a small voice above me. "Is she okay?" It said, sounded like a girl. Fifteen maybe. "I don't think so." There voices sounded almost alike, except for the second one being slightly less perky. 'Ugh, can't I just die with some peace and quiet?' I thought, lucky I had my wings in - stupid curious humans. Maybe bleeding out was making me a little bitter. "Should we take her to a hospital? Whoa! Look at the size of those bullets, what do you think, two inches?" A younger boy's voice enthused, glad he was enjoying my pain. "Probably. It's an experiment, from Itex. Dead I think." An older boy - probably fifteen also, I felt something nudge my side. "Yup, it's dead." Wait! Whoa, whoa! It?! It!!!?

A growl rose from my chest as my lip curled back. I'm not sure how ominous it sounded, but it sounded pretty ominous in my head. "Shit!" The older boy yelled and I heard him jump back. I made myself open my eyes to slits and looked at them, my breathing picked up just by the effort. The two girls were identical twins, except for their hair. One of them had blonde hair, and one had black hair - about the same shade as my own. They both had light violet colored eyes, and were quite thin. The young boy was taller than he looked like he was supposed to be for his age, he was probably about ten. He had dark brown curly hair with matching colored eyes. I looked to the last one in the group, the oldest boy who had sandy blond/brown hair and light brown eyes, I guess you could say he was cute.

I tried to make myself sit up. Not a good idea. Pain shot through my chest and stomach, causing me to yelp and curl up on my side. Also not a good idea, blood soaked through my clothes and got in my hair and on my face. My eyes scrunched up and the back of my eyelids were blood red.

I heard footsteps squish on the grass. "Hey, are you alright?" The voice ask, the older boy.

"Yeah, _just_ _peachy._" I said, my voice was thick with sarcasm. "Good then we'll just go." He said, I heard footsteps starting to walk away.

"Parker! That's not nice, we have to help her. She's a fellow experiment." One of the girls said, couldn't tell which one, didn't really care. At least I knew two things, they knew about Itex, and they were experiments.

"How do you suggest we do that Nikita? She's covered in blood and she's got to be heavy." Parker said.

"Oh Please, you are just making excuses so we can leave. What is a little blood going to hurt, and you know that you are strong enough to carry her. Though maybe your right, maybe you are too much of a weakling to carry her, would you like me to do it?" This one sounded a lot less perky than the other girl. I could already tell which of this group I liked the most.

"Fine, Naomi. You win, again." Parker sighed and I felt myself being picked up bridal - style.

"Put me down!" I complained.

"Okay." He said, and I felt his grip loosen - making me grip his shirt automatically. Damn my instincts. His arms tightened again. "Now where do you suggest we take her?"

"I dunno. Hospital?" I could tell that was Nikita.

"No! No hospitals!" I felt myself say, but darkness was pulling at the corner of my eyes and my body went limp.

_Beep. Beep. Beep beep. Beeeeeep. Beep. Beep. _'What the hell is that noise?' I ask in my head, I meant it to came out my mouth but it didn't quite make it.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

'Ugh, shut that alarm clock off.' My mouth still failed to get the message. 'Wait, alarm clock? That doesn't sound like an alarm clock.'

I felt a breeze of cool air as I heard a door open.

"Is she going to be alright?" I heard a girl's voice ask. Then it came to me. Nikita. 'They took me to a hospital.' I realized. 'My wings! My wings! Did they hide my wings?'

"Yes she will be just fine. She can leave tomorrow, she is a quick healer." Other than a little surprise at the end, there was nothing abnormal in her voice, no sign that she knew I had wings on my back. What was going on?

"That's good." I heard Naomi say.

"Well, you can stay in here a while but visiting hours are over at ten o'clock. So then you have to go home." I opened my eyes to see a slightly chubby nurse with curly red hair standing beside my bed, talking to Nikita and Naomi. No sign of Parker and other -boy -who's- name -I -hadn't- learned -yet. 'Yeah, that's a _great _nickname.' I thought.

"Thank you!" Nikita called as the nurse left the room, and Naomi seemed to manage a small wave, then spotted me.

"Look who's awake." Nikita spun around to look at me, then almost hopped to my bedside. And as she did that, I noticed all the tubes.


	14. Chapter 14

**OMG! I haven't updated in forever! *Cries* I've disappointed you all! NOOOOO!!!!!!**

**But seriously now that I've let out my dramatic nature, I really am sorry I have basically no excuse for not updating this long but, I have been out of the country for a while. I got into a performing arts school and have been busy practicing and doing homework. But you'll be glad to hear that for the past week I have been busy writing this and the next four or five chapters for Ebony Flames and editing the past ones. Don't worry I just made a few typo corrections and stuff. Yay! So I will be sure to post one a day or more, yay!**

**I do not a anything, anything I tell you! ANYTHING!!!!!! *Twitch***

_Previously__……."Thank you!" Nikita called as the nurse left the room, and Naomi seemed to manage a small wave, then spotted me._

_"Look who's awake." Nikita spun around to look at me, then almost hopped to my bedside. And as she did that, I noticed all the tubes……_

_Present Time - A hospital in Italy._

"Ah!" I gasped and swatted at the tubes that were stuck in my arm and in my nose. I hadn't quite managed to get one of them of me before the twin with black hair (I couldn't tell which was which yet) held me down.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Naomi." Oh, well now I know.

"And, I'm Nikita." Nikita said, coming from behind Naomi.

"You need to leave those tubes in, can I trust you enough to let go of your arms?" Naomi said looking directly into my wide eyes as my stomach rose and fell in quick gasps of breath.

"Of course you can, let go of her arms before you freak her out even more." Nikita said and Naomi released my arms with an annoyed look at Nikita.

"Naomi is very uncomfortable in hospitals. Actually we all are, that's why Parker and Aiden aren't here. I'm uncomfortable too, but I am better at dealing with it than the rest of them." Nikita explained sitting gingerly on the side of the too-small hospital bed. Naomi flopped into an armchair on the other side of the room.

"Aiden?" I asked, I was slightly out of it, I guess because of blood loss.

"I think you saw him, he was the little boy with brown hair, sweet kid - a little strange though." Nikita said with a smile.

"Oh. If you don't like hospitals then why are you here?" I asked Naomi.

"Normally I wouldn't be since I have no clue who you are or what your name is, but Nikita is here and me and Nikita are like this," She held up crossed fingers.

"Actually Naomi that would be Nikita and I." Nikita interjected, Naomi gave her another annoyed look.

"Anyway. We don't leave each others side for a second." She continued.

"Except when we need to go to the bathroom, or go to sleep, or something. That would just be weird." Nikita added.

"Oh." I said and relaxed into the pillows behind me a little. "So you guys are from Itex, too?"

"Yep, escaped a few years ago, met Aiden and Parker-"

"They're brothers." Nikita added.

"Yeah and then we kinda just stuck together."

"Like glue." Nikita finished. Naomi gave her a 'You are such a dork' look and then looked at me.

"When'd you get out?"

"I guess I was about eight years old, not sure."

"Wow, you must be pretty powerful." Nikita said.

"But not powerful enough to beat the Reans." Naomi added.

"Reans? Is that what those things were?" I asked.

"Yep, we've never actually seen them yet, we just read about them. At Itex. They are these weird reptilian humans that can teleport and have these really long claws." Nikita explained, stretching her hand out from her fingernails to describe the claws.

"Yeah, and really sharp teeth, like crocodiles. And they have gills." Naomi said.

"Well that's going to be a challenge." I said.

"Looks like they already got to you." Nikita commented.

"Yeah well it was a surprise attack, next time I'll be ready." I said with more confidence than I had.

"Good, cause you're going to need to be." Naomi said, two fingers on her temple.

"Parker says he sees a group of them, heading towards us right now."

"Parker is talented at anything having to do with the mind, telekinesis, mind communication, and force fields to be exact." Nikita explained.

"Wait there not Reans, just those stupid robot dogs." Naomi informed. "Let's get outta here, Nikita. Listen- What was your name again?"

"Phoenix."

"Cool name, okay, I'm pretty sure they are after us, so we are gonna get out of here and lead them away. Try to stay in here and recover if you can stand the place. Bye!"

"Bye, and thanks!" I called after them.

I looked out the window of the small hospital room and waited to see the twins exit.

Sure enough, as soon as Naomi and Nikita left and started running down the brick road, the robots followed. I noticed Naomi and Nikita's hands were glowing, one midnight black, and one bright white. So that was their power, they were energy thieves. Energy thieves were not very common around Itex, too hard to control, they tend to have mood swings. They steal energy out of living things and make it their own, so they can bend and shape it into whatever they like.

Then I remembered, my wings. How'd they hide my wings? I craned my neck around as far as it would go and looked at my back. There was nothing there. I felt to make sure, nope, nothing. I started to panic.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I heard the heart monitor beep faster. Last thing I needed was a worried nurse in here.

I opened my eyes again and stood up from the bed, taking off the tubes that were stuck in me and going over to the mirror. I turned around, pulled down the back of the gown and - my wings weren't there. "How is that possible?" I asked myself. "Aiden." I said. Aiden must have been an illusionist, also not common at Itex. That had to be it, especially since for the first time I noticed my heartbeat was supposedly a normal human pace and the x-rays showed normal human parts instead of air sacs and hollow bones. Illusionists can basically create illusions, you know, like make people see things that aren't there or distort images.

I went to the window, no sign of Parker the rest of his group, or the Robots. I went over to the closet near the door and looked for my clothes. They were clean, blood free. 'Wonder what Naomi and Nikita had told the doctor about what happened to me?' I thought.

I put on my clean clothes quickly and looked for something to tie up my now extra long hair up in because I hadn't gotten a cut in over a month. No such luck.

"Where is she?" I knew that voice, that was one of the scientists at Itex! " Oh, hello, you must be that doctor from the states." I heard down the hall, I whirled around and cocked my head to listen. "She is right down the hall, got mauled by a wild animal they say." A nurse with a heavy Italian accent said.

'Mauled by a wild animal, good one.' I thought with a mental laugh, someone in Parker's group have taken out the bullets before they brought me here. I quickly pulled on my sneakers and rushed to the window.

"Thank you." The doctor said. I got the window cranked open just as I heard footsteps coming towad the door. I stepped onto the window frame. I looked down, no one was there, but I heard noise farther down the street, lots of it.

A dark shadow overcame the light that filtered through under the door. I turned around to face it. The door opened and I saw the familiar face of one of the horrid scientists from Itex.

"Vedilo più successivamente, pollone." I said, put my arms out, spread my wings and fell from the hospital window. Vedilo più successivamente pollone is Italian for; see you later sucker. Yep, I knew Italian too.


	15. Chapter 15

**Ugh! It is seriously hard to update everyday…..at least for me. Yesterday I didn't update because we had to drive four hours to my Grandma's house cuz she just got out of the hospital and she had her modem shut down and we couldn't get it back on until the next morning. Anyway, **Sayonara Yasashii Akumu** said that the end of the last chapter was a lil confusing so I went back and read and Sayonara Yasashii Akumu was right! So I went back and made the last chappie a lil less confusing but if you don't want to go back and read it , I'll sum it up. **

**Aiden is an Illusionist, he can create illusions like make people see things that aren't really there or disguise something (like Phoenix's heartbeat).**

**Parker has mind powers, like telekinesis, force fields, and mind communication.**

**Nikita and Naomi are energy theives, they steal energy from other living entities and use it for whatever they like so they can bend energy.**

**Did that make it less confusing? I hope so :D**

**Also I made this one extra long to make up for not posting yesterday. And again in this chapter I used material from the book in one scene (but I did alter it) so I just want to say that I OWN NOTHING!**

I flip around in the air at the last second before I hit the brick streets and glided back up above the beautiful buildings of Italy. 'What town am I in again? Oh yeah Volterra, pretty town, city, whatever it is.' I thought as I looked down, I was so far up in the air by now I had a birds' eye view (haha birds' eye) of the town, but all I saw below me was a sea of red. Red capes, red clothes, red red red. 'What the hell is going on?' I asked in my head.

I swerved, dipping down behind a large building and landing in a back alley full of garbage cans and trash, ew.

I walked out into the crows, pulling my wings in tight to my back. I looked around, an officer was standing a few feet away from me.

"Excuse me, sir, could you tell me what is going on today?" He just stared straight ahead like he hadn't heard me. 'Duh' I thought and tried again in Italian. "Lo scusate, signore, potreste dirmi che cosa sta accendendo oggi?" This time he turned to face me and answered. "L'oggi è il giorno del Marcos del san."

'Saint Marcus Day?' I thought 'What is that?' I asked him what I was thinking. "Che cosa è quello?"

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Stiamo celebrando il san che di giorno Marcus ha determinato tutti i vampiri dal volterra." His words made me freeze where I stood. They were celebrating the day Saint Marcus drove all the vampires from Volterra. Memories of my days in Forks, Washington came rushing back.

"Grazie." I thanked him and he turned away from me as I walked back to the alleyway, I shoved all the thoughts of the Cullens and…Jacob out of my head as I spread my wings and took off into the sky, the sun was blinding, I looked over at the big clock in the center of the city and the center of the hustle and bustle of Saint Marcus Day. It was almost noon.

That's when I heard a terrible hissing coming from the top of the building beside me. I spun and put my fists up to defend myself but it was too late, a Rean jumped from the ledge of the bulding and tackled me in midair. I gasped as it crumpled my wings against my back and then thrust my knee into it's stomach. With another hiss it let go just before we hit the ground.

I pumped my wings hard, lifting myself above the buildings, but more Reans were on the rooftops surrounding me.

I pushed myself higher. 'Good thing Itex didn't equip them with wings.' Evidently I jinxed myself. One by one the Reans spread huge dragon-like wings and jumped into the air after me. "Shit!" I said as they flew high speed towards me. I got into a fighting position. One of them swiped it's claw out at my face, I dodged it at the last second, grabbed it forearm and swung it around me in a circle, hitting two of them that were coming from behind me.

Pain came searing from my back as one of them scratched through my shirt and across my lower back and side. 'Oh now that is going to scar.' I thought and spun around with a snarl at him.

Heat came from my hands as my anger rose, and soon bright red flames were covering my palms. I pushed the fire outward, engulfing the Rean in it completely. It screeched and a putrid smell of burning scales filled the air. I flipped backwards and kicked one of the reptiles right in the jaw, it dropped a few feet then flew back up and bit down of my calf.

I yelled and brought my foot down on its face, grabbed its wings and let the flames flow outward. It's wings burnt to a crisp and it fell to the ground, releasing my leg.

I did a 360, there were too many of them. I decided that I had to try to run. Before I could, one of them grabbed elbows from behind. I threw my head back into it's face and spun around to look at it. For the first time I got a close up look at one of the hideous things.

It had ugly yellow eyes with a black sideways slit for pupils. It's mouth and nose were connected and protruding from it's face. Jagged claws came out from the end of their fingertips and it's hands and feet were webbed. Long, sharp teeth stuck out from it's mouth and its bottom teeth went up through the spaces in the top ones. And lastly it was covered, top to bottom, in sticky, slimy green scales.

I heard the big clock toll in the center of Volterra as it struck noon.

I raised my hands and a spiral of blue and red flames shot forward with so much force and precision that they burnt a hole straight through it's stomach. It dropped and I turned to look at the rest of the Reans, there were still too many of them to fight, and there were too many people in the city to put on a pyrotechnics show in the sky. So I settled with retreating. I made flames explode out in all directions, making the Reans fly backwards, giving me enough room to escape.

I flew fast while the flames receded, dipping down low and pumping my wings as quickly as I could. But the Reans were right behind me, I swerved and dived trying to lose them, but it was no use.

I stopped and started punching and kicking at the creatures, I managed to take out a few of them but they soon overpowered me, holding me still from my hands and legs. I was on the verge of giving up, I barely had any energy left. Then I thought of where they would take me, Itex, back to that horrible place where they would conduct terribly painful experiements on me. Then I thought of Jacob, I had promised him I would come back - and I wasn't going to break that promise, I came close before but not this time.

I concentrated hard, pulling any energy that was left in my body out feeding it to my anger. My lip curled but I knew that I couldn't take a direct approach. I let my eyes close and fell limp. The reans might be stronger than me, but they weren't smarter. As soon as they thought I was unconscious their grips loosened on me until they were just holding me up. They started flying, I couldn't tell where to, my eyes were still closed.

I heard a beep. "Is she secured?" A guys' voice asked on the - what I guessed was a walkie talkie- but that wasn't just any voice, I knew that voice because it was Parkers'!

'Parker is working for Itex! Oh who am I kidding, they are all working for Itex. I should have known, how else would that whitecoat know I was at that hospital, and what are the chances of a group of experiments finding me in the middle of a forest in Italy? How idiotic can I get? Ugh!' I cursed myself in my head.

"Yessss, she is unconsciousssss." The one closest to my head answered, even their voices were reptilian. "Good bring her back to headquarters, the director wants to see her right away." Parker said. I hated each and every one of them so much, and the director, I knew her. She was a royal bitch.

I decided to make my move.

In a split second I broke out of the Reans' loose grips. I lifted my palms and with the newfound anger, the flames came to me quickly and easily. The Reans surrounding me all became ablaze with fire immediately, they never knew what hit 'em.

I started flying away from the smell and the hissing coming from the creatures as they burned alive. I looked down and saw that I was flying right over top a beautiful turret-like building with an extravagant stained glass ceiling. The turret room was surrounded by what could almost be described as a palace. (**AN - This is supposed to be the throne room place in NM, I'm not sure if it had a stained glass ceiling or not in the book or movie but it does in my story :D) **

I heard a noise from behind me, I turned around only to be round house kicked in the face. I spun a few times in the air, steadied myself, then looked up right into the face of a Rean. "Ugh! I thought you were all dead!" I tackled it and we hurdled through the air. It jabbed it's claws into my side and I screamed as the pain hit me.

I grabbed it's other hand and snapped it's claws backwards. It hissed and lunged at me, I dropped below it, sending it through the air.

Flames ignited on my hands and I could see the air around me rippling from the heat. I shot fire out toward the rean but it flew out of the way and jumped on me, holding my wings back. We started dropping, tumbling through the air toward the turret room.

I struggled to get free, but it was no use, the stupid thing had too good a hold on me. Suddenly the rean looked frightened and let go of me. But before it flew off, it kicked my stomach hard enough to send me dropping twice the speed I was before.

I doubled over in mid-air. A second later I regained enough strength to spread my wings and slightly deterred my fall, but it was too late - I hit the roof of the turret room. Gold, blue, red, and green glass shattered around me as the ceiling broke and crashed in. I fell for a few more feet then my back hit a hard stone floor.

My eyes closed as my head fell back heavily and my wings spread out, laying limp on top of the broken glass. I head snarls and growls coming from around me.

"Oh my god." I heard a girl's voice say quietly. 'I guess I didn't black out at least.' I thought. 'Might as well try to stand up.' I groaned and turned onto my side, trying weakly to push myself off the ground. I'm sure I had glass lodged in me everywhere but I was pretty numb by now. The growls got louder as I got on my knees and I opened my eyes, as soon as I did they widened because I was laying on the floor of a room full of vampires who looked ready to fight.

I jumped off the floor, not a good idea, I got dizzy and had to steady myself. As soon as I was sure I wasn't going to fall over I took a fighting position and brought my wings up and spreading them out, my instinct telling me to look bigger.

The vampires were everywhere, except these didn't look like the Cullens, their eyes were blood red and they were all wearing cloaks. There were two of them standing up in front of three high backed chairs, staring at me. A younger looking vampire, (although I knew that she wasn't really that young) fourteen or fifteen in appearance, she was about five foot with blondish brown hair. And another one about the same age as her in appearance, he had brown hair and actually looked a lot like the girl.

"Ah!" I yelped in surprise when large cold hands grabbed my arms from behind. I tried pulling away but then remembered that whoever it was, was a vampire. Instead I tried a more effective method. Heat rushed to my arms where his hands were. 'Fire affects vampires right?' I thought, then after a moment the heat in my arms must have worked because I heard a yell from behind me and the hands released me.

The blonde girl looked angry and stepped forward at me.

"Phoenix!" I heard a girl call and the blonde froze, looking behind me. I turned, "Alice? Bella, Edward? What the hell are you doing here?" I asked, confused. Bella looked shocked , Edward was looking at me with a matching expression. "What are _you _doing here?" He asked.

I noticed there was another vampire standing in front of them. "You know this girl?" He said. He had jet black hair and almost transluc ent pale skin. Alice looked at him. "Yes, Aro, we do."

"Well intoduce us." He stepped down and walked over to me. I shifted my foot so I was in a defensive position. He was trying not to but he was staring at my wings in awe. "Aro this is Phoenix. Phoenix, Aro." I narrowed my eyes at him. "And would mind telling me Phoenix how you did that to Felix? And what happened to you?" He looked at the muscular vampire who was glaring at me. I didn't know what to do, I looked at Alice. She nodded at me and put her hands out like I do when I call the flames to my hands, I got her drift.

"Like this." I held my hands out and the heat rushed to my palms, igniting into fire. Aro stepped back as the other two by the chairs joined him. Jane stepped forward again. "It's alight Jane." Aro said looking at my hands with a look that you might see on a little boy in a candy store.

I put the flame out and dropped my hands to my sides. "And I got into a fight." I said lamely. He stared at me for a minute. "Phoenix, this is Caius and Marcus." Caius had silvery blonde hair and the same translucent skin, and so did Marcus who had black hair like Aro.

They were staring at my wings, that was getting annoying. Aro walked around me in circle, looking me over. From the corner of my eye I saw him reach out to touch one of my feathers.

I spun on my heel, my lip curled up and a growl rose from my chest. He jumped back quickly. I calmed myself down and stepped back to stand beside Bella. She must have been really freaked because she reached down to hold my hand.

"What are you?" Caius asked. "What do you think?" I said spreading my wings. "And don't even guess angel because I'm far from it." I guess I wasn't as calm as I thought. Bella squeezed my hand as Caius stepped forward toward me. "Well I think it's only fair we know, seeing as you obviously know what we are."

Alice and Edward looked at me with 'He's right' expressions. "Fine, I'm a genetically altered human science experiment. Good enough?" I explained brusquely. He blinked, the whole room was silent for a minute.

"Phoenix was like this since birth, a scientist made her." Alice summarized. "Amazing, but who would think that someone could create such a thing." Aro said. "Thing?" I asked looked at me, then realized what I was offeneded by. "Oh, I'm sorry, how insensitive. i've just never seen anyone like you. You're.....amazing - for a lack of better words." He studied me.

"And your powers? Did the scientist do that to you too?" Marcus inquired. "I don't know that much about it." I said. "Well, we'll get back to you in just a minute Phoenix, don't go anywhere." Aro said as I looked up at the empty space where the ceiling used to be, then dropped my eyes to the floor.

"So let us have the story." Aro almost sang as he went to stand in front of Bella and Edward.

Caius drifted back to one of the thrones, but Marcus paused beside Aro, and he reached his hand out, touching it briefly then dropping his hand to his side. Aro raised one black brow. Edward snorted very quietly, and Alice looked at him, curious. "Thank you, Marcus," Aro said. "That's quite interesting." I was confused.

Marcus didn't look interested. He glided away from Aro to join Caius, seated against the wall. Two of the other vampires followed behind him— they must have been bodyguards. Aro was shaking his head. "Amazing,"' he said. "Absolutely amazing." I looked over, Alice had a frustrated expression on her face. Edward turned to her and explained in a swift, low voice. "Marcus sees relationships. He's surprised by the intensity of ours." Aro smiled.

"So convenient," he said. "It takes quite a bit to surprise Marcus, I can assure you." I looked at Marcus's bored face and I could see that. "It's just so difficult to understand, even now," Aro mused, staring at Edward's arm wrapped around Bella. It was had for me to follow anything that was going on. I just listened, thinking that I might understand something eventually. "How can you stand so close to her like that?" "It's not without effort," Edward answered him calmly. "But still—la tua cantante! What a waste!" Edward chuckled. "I look at it more as a price." Aro looked was skeptical. "A very high price." "Opportunity cost."

Aro laughed. "If I hadn't smelled her through your memories, I wouldn't have believed the call of anyone's blood could be so strong. I've never felt anything like it myself. Most of us would trade much for such a gift, and yet you…" "Waste it," Edward finished, his voice was sarcastic. I had now gotten the hint that they were talking about Bella's laughed again. "Ah, how I miss my friend Carlisle! You remind me of him—only he was not so angry." "Carlisle outshines me in many other ways as well."

"I certainly never thought to see Carlisle bested for self-control of all things, but you put him to shame." "Hardly." Edward sounded impatient. I shifted nervously, claustrophobia starting to kick in, Jane seemed to notice, and looked at me smugly, I glared back and she looked surprised. "But your restraint!" Aro sighed. "I did not know such strength was possible. To inure yourself against such a siren call, not just once but again and again—if I had not felt it myself, I would not have believed." Edward had no expression. I looked around for emergency exits, there was only one door, then of course the open ceiling but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to make a break for it fast enough. "Just remembering how she appeals to you…" Aro chuckled. "It makes me thirsty." I saw Edward tense, so did I for a minute.

"Don't be disturbed," Aro reassured him. "I mean her no harm. But I am so curious, about one thing in particular." He eyed Bella. "May I?" he asked eagerly, lifting one hand. "Ask her," Edward suggested flatly."Of course, how rude of me!" Aro exclaimed. "Bella," he turned to her. "I'm fascinated that you are the one exception to Edward's impressive talent—so very interesting that such a thing should occur! And I was wondering, since our talents are similar in many ways, if you would be so kind as to allow me to try—to see if you are an exception for me, as well?" Bella looked at Edward, in what I'm guessing was something like panic. Wait, what was Aro's power? Why was it similar to Edwards?

Edward nodded at her in raised her hand, it was shaking. . Aro reached out, and pressed his hand against hers'.Aro's confident expression faltered as I watched. "So very interesting," he said as he released her hand and drifted back a few steps. Edward's expression was smug.

Aro's eyes flicked between the four of us. "A first," he said to himself "I wonder if she is immune to our other talents… Jane, dear?" 'Jane? What can Jane do? Would someone please explain all this to me?' I thought. "No!" Edward snarled. Alice grabbed his arm with a restraining hand. He shook her off. Jane smiled up at Aro. "Yes, Master?" 'Master? That's just weird.' I was now snarling and glaring at room had gone still, everyone watching Edward with amazed disbelief. Felix grinned hopefully and move a step forward. Aro glanced at him once, and he froze in place, his grin turning to a sulky expression. Then he spoke to Jane. "I was wondering, my dear one, if Bella is immune to you." He let go of Bella, moving to in front of her. Jane turned toward Bella with a sadistic smile.

"Don't!" Alice cried as Edward launched himself at Jane. In a split second, without anyone touching him, Edward was on the ground in agony.

Jane was still smiling sadistically. 'Well now I know what she can do.' I thought to myself.

"Stop!" Bella shrieked, Alice was holding Bella, keeping her from doing anything. Edward writhed against the stone floor. Bella looked like she was in pain just watching. "Phoenix, do something, please." She whispered. I looked at her pleading eyes, then at Jane. I stepped forward, using my anxiety as a catalyst heat rushed through my body and I concentrated hard on channeling the heat into her, soon Jane cringed and then fell to the floor with a yell.

Alec stepped forward, but Aro held up a hand.

He looked at me, shocked, as soon as Edward stood up I let the heat subside and Jane picked herself up from the floor snarling at me. I raised my eyebrows and snarled right back, spreading my wings and getting into fighting position again. "Jane, dear. Calm down, you are fine. Are you not?" Aro asked of her calmly.

She straightened up still glaring at me and said. "Yes master." I rolled my eyes as she walked away.

Aro looked at me. "Amazing, you just disarmed one of the most gifted members of the Volturi with one glance, amazing." He repeated. "A wonder of the world." I looked at him blankly. "Jane, please would you try again on Bella this time?" I saw Bella shrink back beside me as Jane drifted over, eyeing me suspiciously, like I was going to make her spontaneously combust. She turned he gaze to Bella, with a wicked smile. That smile faltered after a minute of nothing happening. Then she was downright glaring at Bella as her jaw clenched.

Aro started to laugh. "Ha, ha. ha," he chuckled. "This is wonderful!" Jane hissed in frustration, leaning forward like she was preparing to spring. "Don't be put out, dear one," Aro said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "She confounds us all." Jane's upper lip curled back over her teeth as she continued to glare at furiously at Bella.

Aro sighed like it was the end of a really good party. "But what do we do with you now?" Alice and Edward tensed, and Bella started trembling beside of me.

"Edward? I don't suppose you've changed your mind about joining us?" He ask hopefully.

"I'd….rather….not." Edward sounded like he was choosing his words carefully.

"Alice, would you be interested at all?" Aro asked, still hopeful.

"No thank you." Alice said, always polite.

"Bella?" I heard Edward hiss, and I looked at Bella, she was still trembling.

Caius spoke before Bella could. "What?" He demanded, looking very displeased.

"Caius, surely you can see the potential." Aro said eyeing Bella. "Her talent is very promising, can't you see the possibilities when she is one of us?"

Caius looked away.

I could barely hear Bella when she whispered "No thank you." From beside me.

"What a shame, such a waste." Aro sighed as a hiss came from Edward. ""Join or die, is that it? I suspected as much when we were brought to this room. So much for your laws."

Aro blinked in surprise, "Of course not, we were already convened in this room, waiting for Heidi's return, not for you."

"But Aro, the law claims them." Caius hissed impatiently. "She knows too much." Then his icy gaze turned on me. "And so does she." I glared at him.

"You've got a few humans in on your charade here also." Caius's expression twisted into what I think was supposed to be a smile.

"Yes," he agreed. "But when they are no longer useful to us, they will serve to sustain us. That is not your plan for this one. If she betrays our secrets, are you prepared to destroy her? I think not," he scoffed. "I wouldn't—," Bella began in a whisper, but a look from Caius made her shut up. "Nor do you intend to make her one of us," Caius continued. "Therefore, she is a vulnerability. Though it is true, for this, only her life is forfeit. You may leave if you wish." I saw Edward bare his teeth."That's what I thought," Caius said. Felix leaned forward eagerly. "Unless…" Aro interrupted. "Unless you do intend to give her immortality?" Edward pursed his lips, hesitating for a moment before he answered. "And if I do?" Aro smiled. "Why, then you would be free to go home and give my regards to my friend Carlisle. But you would have to mean it." He warned.

Edward stared at Bella for a minute until Alice stepped forward, hand outstretched, palm up toward Aro.

He took he hand eagerly and bent over it for a moment.

A few seconds later, Aro's laughter filled the quiet room. "That was fascinating!" He exclaimed.

"Glad you enjoyed it." Alice said dryly."To see things that you've seen, things that haven't happened yet!"

"But will." Alice reminded.

"Yes, yes, surely there's no problem it's quite determined." He said, smiling.

"Then we are all free to go now?" Edward asked impatiently.

"Yes, but please do visit again." He said as Edward and Bella turned to leave. Alice looked at me.

"Aro, aren't you forgetting something?" Caius scowled.

"Oh! Yes, how could I forget! What to do with Phoenix?" Edward froze and turned back around, dragging Bella with him. I wished they would just leave, they were free to go, I didn't want anything else to happen to them because of me. "May I?" Aro asked holding out his hand. My jaw clenched at the thought of every single thought I've ever had, every memory. But I suppose I didn't have a choice. I held up my hand.

Aro took it, his expression changed evey few seconds. From cringing, to shocked, and at one point disgusted - probably at the experiements that were conducted at Itex. He dropped my hand. "Truly unbelivable, the things, the pain you've been through."He shook his head like _he _was tyring to clear the thoughts of Itex from his head. That explains your eyes, too deep for any girl who's lead a normal life, of course you don't expect a normal life from a girl with wings do you?" He sighed.

I looked away.

"She knows too much, and I don't think Edward or any of the Cullens plan on granting her immortality." Caius said now impatient, Felix looked eager again, like he was looking forward to killing me, he probably was.

"Well Phoenix, would you like to join us? You would be a remarkable addition to the Volturi." Aro said hopefully, his eyes were lit up with the excitement of the thought. "A winged vampire." He said.

"I don't think that is a good idea, Aro." Caius hissed. "And why not?" Aro countered.

"I'm so very sorry Phoenix. But in your case I'm afraid the situation _is_ join or die." Aro said, he didn't look very sorry at all.


	16. Chapter 16

**Yay! I got this story updated two days in a row! Yes, new record! Oh I'm Crazy, you made a good point (and thanks for the positive feedback :****), why don't I have more reviews? I'm just kidding though I don't mind I just like to write. But I do appreciate all of you who did/do review so thanks guys! Anyway new chapter, what's going to happen to Phoenix? Shark Gurl says that she would just set them all on fire, hm, maybe maybe :D…. Read on to find out what Phoenix decides to do, and remember that I don't own anything. Sorry guys if it seems a lil OOC but I was kind of out of sorts today.**

**Oh and fun fact, did you know that I really do speak Italian? Plus my R key keeps getting stuck so every time I try to spell Edward it comes out Edwad, hehe, Edwad.**

_Previously……._

_"She knows too much, and I don't think Edward or any of the Cullens plan on granting her immortality." Caius said, now impatient, Felix looked eager again, like he was looking forward to killing me, he probably was._

_"Well Phoenix, would you like to join us? You would be a remarkable addition to the Volturi." Aro said hopefully, his eyes were lit up with the excitement of the thought. "A winged vampire." He said._

_"I don't think that is a good idea, Aro." Caius hissed. "And why not?" Aro countered._

_"I'm so very sorry Phoenix. But in your case I'm afraid the situation is join or die." Aro said, he didn't look very sorry at all._

I fidgeted, become a vampire or die? Neither of them sounded very appealing, but taking the violent approach and setting the room afire might hurt Edward, Alice, and Bella. I looked over at them, they just stared back with an expression that was a mix between sorrow and sympathy. I wasn't getting help from any of them.

I turned back to Aro, that's when pain exploded through my entire body. The feeling was so intense I let out the loudest scream I've ever screamed in my life. I dropped to the floor and squeezed my eyes closed, trying to shut out the pain, it didn't work. Every part of me was searing with pain so horrible I was starting to tremble. It felt like a million electric shocks frying me from the inside out. I barely managed to open my eyes into slits. 'Am I dying?' I thought. 'So much for the immortal theory.'

"Jane!" Aro exclaimed, whirling around to face her. She looked surprised and put her hands in the air backing away. "Not me." She said. "Phoenix?" I heard beside me, Bella. Everything was blurry and black dots swam across my vision. "Phoenix?!" Alice this time, joining Bella beside me. Then I felt someone shake me, pressure pushed all around me, and I screamed again. As soon as I did the pressure seemed to explode outward. I heard Alice yelp and there was crunching as something hit the glass on the floor rather hard.

I squinted, trying to see what was going on. Bella and Alice were across the room, on the floor, staring at me in disbelief. Bella was holding her head in pain. I saw Edward run to her side. Then I lost my train of thought completely, actually I lost all my thoughts, they turned animalistic as my instincts took over.

**Alice POV: **

Phoenix looked at me, I didn't know what to say, I looked at her sympathetically, it was the best I could do. She turned back to Aro, that's when she let out the loudest scream I've ever heard and dropped to the floor. A second later she began to shake. "Jane!" Aro exclaimed and turned to look at the devilish little girl. She put her hands in the air and backed away saying. "Not me."

Bella broke free of Edward's arms and ran to Phoenix's side. "Phoenix?" She asked, kneeling beside her. I saw her eyes were open in little slits. I joined Bella at Phoenix's side. "Phoenix?!" I asked anxiously. I reached out and shook her shoulder. She let out another shrill scream, and suddenly immense pressure exploded around her. The invisible blast caused Bella and I to fly backwards through the air and hit the wall on the other side of the room. I yelped in surprise, Bella groaned and clutched her head where it had hit the stone wall. Edward raced over and held her.

Then Phoenix stopped moving completely, the trembling stopped, and no sound escaped from her at all. I saw Aro take a step toward her. Phoenix shot upward into the air with a horrible screech that you would expect to come from some kind of raptor. As she hovered - her entire eyes, whites and all, grew black. She screeched again and her wings and hands became ablaze with bright red and blue fire. Flames spiraled up her body and all her wounds healed immediately. Thick strands of her hair changed color, creating gold and red highlights against the midnight black of her base color.

All the vampires in the room pressed against the walls as flames shot sporadically from her hands and wings. The room temperature was increasing dramatically. I saw Felix from the corner of my eye, he ran forward and jumped at Phoenix. She spun, turning her dark animalistic eyes on him, then shooting flames out from her hands at him. He dodged at the last second, landing across the room from her.

She lowered herself down, as soon as she touched the floor the flames on her hands went out and her fingernails became long black talons. She screeched at Felix, he stared at her with a terrified expression. The bodyguards of Caius stepped forward surrounding her. She looked at them quickly, then brought her hands up above her head. Flames combusted from the floor, creating a wall of flames around her.

Then the flames flew out in a circle around her, taking the vampire bodyguards by surprise, lighting them on fire. They hissed and screamed as the flames consumed them. I saw Bella's breathing pick up, what the hell was wrong with Phoenix.

She let out one last screech, pulled her wings around her body like a fiery blanket, the flames covered her entire body for a minute then exploded around her.

Edward dragged Bella to the door, and I followed, keeping out of the way of the flames. The last of the flames died out and Phoenix looked up slowly.

I gasped, her eyes were a golden red color with swirls of blue spiraling towards her pupil, like fire in her eyes. The red and gold highlights had settled and brightened her midnight black hair, and her wings were a pure fiery golden color, all the dark feathers gone.

The room was silent for a moment, everyone staring at her in awe.

**Phoenix POV -**

I looked up slowly, I felt different, stronger and more powerful, and much much wiser. Everyone was staring at me with amazed expressions. "Phoenix, your eyes." Alice whispered. I looked down into one of the glass shards, my eyes were fiery gold with blue swirls spiraling toward my pupil. I also noticed that my wings were the same fire-gold color, my black feathers nowhere to be found. My hair was streaked with gold and red highlights. 'What happened to me?' I thought.

I looked at Aro with a steady gaze.

"I don't think you want me to join the Volturi." I said calmly. He stared at me wide-eyed. "I come with a lot of….inconveniences."

"Nothing we can't handle." He said, trying to match my tone. "No, I don't think you could." Just on cue I heard a noise from above us. I looked up and on the ledge of what used to be the turret room roof was Parker and his group of backstabbers. "Hello Parker, Naomi, Nikita, Aiden." I said, what the hell was going on with me, normally I would be ass-kicking right now!

"Phoenix, I'm afraid we have to break up your little party here, the director wants to see you _now_." Parker said, he bared his teeth at me and then al of them jumped down into the room. Normally the over crowdedness would freak me out, but for some reason - it wasn't.

"Well, I don't think that's going to happen, Parker." I said and then swung my leg around in a round house kick, hitting Parker square in the chest. He stumbled backwards, and I tried to step toward him but found that I couldn't move my feet. I looked down and saw darkness holding my feet down - Naomi. I felt the pressure surround me again then I flung my hands out and it exploded around me. I heard the twins scream as they were blasted backwards. 'Hm, that's a handy new power.' I thought.

I whirled around and raised my hand to punch Parker but got distracted by the big black talons protruding from my fingertips. "Huh." I said then thrust my hand forward into his stomach, he gasped as my talons broke through his skin. I pulled them out, blood-soaked. Parker lurched forward, wrapping his arms around his stomach. I was about to set him on fire, when all of a sudden everything around me was different. I was in a forest somewhere at night. Aiden was performing an illusion. I felt something strike my stomach and I doubled over.

The illusion faded and I could see that Alice and Edward had joined the fight and were battling against Naomi and Nikita's energy blocks. I guess energy is stronger than you'd think.

I spun to face Parker and Aiden. I hated to kill a little kid but come on he was trying to kill me first, plus those illusions were fatal if he could keep one up long enough. I'd make it quick. Parker lunged for me, I jumped into the air landing behind him, I grabbed Aiden's arm to hold him still and snapped his neck. I call that quick enough.

Parker did not look happy about that at all. He ran at me, growling, pulled a gun and shot. It nicked me in the shoulder, I winced at the pain then spun and downward kicked Parker right in the temple. He dropped to the ground, but then grabbed my ankle and pulled. I fell to the floor, noticing for the first time that all the Volturi members were watching us like we were putting on some kind of show. I propped myself up and then swung my leg around, tripping Parker.

I jumped up from the floor and Parker stood facing me. I saw behind him that Edward and Alice were having trouble with Nikita and Naomi seeing as they both had energy shields up.

Parker pounced at me , I turned sideways, dodging him. He faced me again and I stuck my hand in the air like a 'Stop' signal then curled my fingers slowly into a fist. He cringed, then screamed as he was burned from the inside out. He eventually caught fire and I turned to help Alice and Edward.

Naomi and Nikita were huddled behind their energy shields, too scard to come out and fight.

"Stand back." I said to Edward and Alice, surprised by the power in my voice. They stood far to the side. I thrust both my hands forward and flames shot out, hitting the energy shields with enough force to break through to Nikita and Naomi.

I snarled then pushed the flames forward, consuming the two of them entirely. 'Itex is really faltering, they gave the rarest powers to novices who have no idea how to use them.' I thought, slightly disappointed with the lack of challenge in that battle.

"So you still want me to join? There are guys like these hunting me down everyday." I said, turning to Aro. He was staring at the still-burning bodies on the floor. He looked up at me.

"Amazing, your powers are fantastic." He sighed "Though that is quite the inconvenience. I wonder…" He trailed. "I wonder how they track you down?"

"A few years ago the company that makes experiments like me started putting chips in all of their experiments. In the forearm I believe." I said calmly. Edward went back stand beside Bella and Alice followed. I smiled at them thankful that they helped me.

"And if that was removed?" I saw where he was going. "They wouldn't be able to find me." I answered, looking away. I still couldn't light the room afire, it was too dangerous with Bella, Edward and Alice in there.

"Well then, it will just have to be removed." He said, smiling. I knew I couldn't run, the vampires were too fast.

'You've really gotten yourself into a predicament here, Phoenix.' I thought, claustrophobia finally starting to kick in.


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry for not posting yesterday but it was my last day at my grandparents house and I spent all day with them. But I've got shout-outs! ****And a disclaimer - I own nothing. Yes! I luv shout-outs! **

**Shark Gurl - But, but! But Phoenix can't burn them all up with her friends in there! They could get hurt! Phoenix does have a heart, even if it's a little tiny one. She can't kill her friends *cries* *sobs***

**Phoenix: Oh great now she's crying, ugh. I'll finish the shout-outs. *Picks up author's shout-out notes* Oh and by the way I heard that comment about my heart. *Glares at author* **

**Me: What? I'm too busy sobbing to hear anything!**

**Phoenix: *Looks at author like she's not quite right* Alright then. **

**Oh I'm Crazy- Everything will be explained soon enough, and then she has written to laugh maniacally, Muaha.**

**coloringbooks () - Thanks for the constructive criticism! But she says that she likes a little confusingness. *Talks to author* Confusingness? That isn't even a word.**

**Me: You should be able to put ness on the end of any word.**

**Phoenix: No, no you shouldn't.**

**Me: But -**

**Phoenix: Oh can you just write the story already!?**

**Me: Fine.**

About an hour later I lay - yet again- in a hospital bed. The only difference was that I was in a private room and was about to be operated on by a doctor, bribed by the Volturi, a royal family of gifted vampires. Plus I had just gone through an X-ray machine so the doctor could find exactly where my chip was.

I had a plan but I wasn't sure if it would work out. First - tell Edward and Alice to take Bella and get on a plane back to Forks. Then I would let the doctor take out the chip in my arm, therefore solving my problems with Itex as long as I remained inconspicuous. And lastly either escape out a window, or, since hopefully Edward, Alice, and Bella will be long gone, burn the place to the ground and bolt.

I still didn't know what was wrong with me, I felt so strange. Like I had changed dramatically, my perspective, my thoughts……everything. One thing hadn't changed though, I still missed Jacob like crazy and as soon as this chip was out of my arm I was going home. Wait, whoa! Home?! I've never called anywhere home - ever! But I suppose the thought of calling Forks home wasn't terrible.

The door of the hospital room opened and the ramblings in my head stopped immediately as a doctor stepped in the room. He had olive colored skin and dark brown hair.

"Ciao." He said as he walked to a counter on the other side of the room. He put on a pair of latex gloves. "Ciao." I said quickly, he came back over and turned on a light above me. My breathing picked up when I saw him uncover an array of medical utensils. He looked over at me in my panic.

"Credo che questa sia una procedura molto semplice." 'I believe this will be a very simple procedure?' I thought frantically. 'He believes?!' I asked him that same thought. 'Credete?' He just looked at me. My palms started sweating.

"Scusilo ma esso sarebbe giusto se potessi comunicare con mio amico prima che voi… inizio? Per favore?" I asked if I could see my friends before he started.

"Eh…..approvazione. I' il ll va li ottiene." He said yes and went to go get them. A second later Alice walked into the room. "Bella is asleep; Edward didn't want to leave her." She explained.

"Listen Alice, take Edward and Bella and go back to Forks. I'll be fine, I've got ways of getting out of here but I can't risk you guys getting hurt in the process." I said quickly. Alice looked unsure.

"You guys staying won't do any good, just get out of here. I can take care of myself." I told her. "Alright, please be careful, and come back to Forks if- when you get out of here." She smiled then looked concerned.

"What happened with you back there?" She asked delicately.

"I don't know…but now I feel different." I said quietly.

"Different? Like how?" She asked, sitting down on the bed.

"I don't know, stronger and my powers are much more powerful." My thoughts wandered to the papers I read from Itex. Possibly immortal. I froze. Is that what happened to me, have I stopped aging?

"Phoenix? Phoenix?" I snapped out of my thoughts when Alice waved her hand in front of my face. "What's wrong with you?" She asked, giving me a strange look. "Alice, the information Itex had on me said that I am possibly immortal. Before I knew that I wasn't because I was still aging - and growing when I was younger. But now that this has happened, do you think I am?" I asked, looking up at her.

Alice's eyebrows pulled together. "Immortal? Hm, I really don't know. Maybe it would help if I did some research on the phoenix when I get home, then I'll let you know what I find." Alice offered.

"Thanks Alice." I said, smiling. "Now get out of here." I joked. "Alright, bye Phoenix." She got up from the bed and left the room.

As soon as she left the doctor came back in and walked over to the bed. He picked up a plastic mask and placed it over my mouth and nose. "Conteggio indietro da cento." I started counting backwards from one hundred like the doctor said. Was it really necessary to give me anesthesia? Couldn't he just give me valium or something? Oh well, I was started to feel sleepy. The light above me blurred and my eyelids drooped, then closed completely.

My eyes fluttered open. _Beep, beep, beep._ I knew that sound, I was in the hospital. Oh yeah, I was getting my chip taken out. I was getting my chip taken out! I looked down at my forearm, stitches lined my arm from a few inches above my wrist to a few inches below my inner elbow.

For the first time I noticed I wasn't in the same room as before. This room had no windows. I looked at the door, it had no knob on the inside of it. The beeping on the heart monitor picked up. My lip curled and I took the wires off me, the beeping stopped immediately. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and tiptoed over to the door. I pushed on it, it didn't budge an inch. I noticed part of the room closed off by a green curtain.

I walked over and pulled it open, gasping and covering my mouth and nose when I saw what lay behind it.

A boy, about my age, sat limp and blood-soaked with his stomach cut open. His glazed dead eyes were cat-like and he had orange cat ears.

I stumbled backwards, I knew where I was. I was at an Itex laboratory. Tears threatened to spill from my eyes and burned at the back of my throat. I choked them down and looked around the room for an escape route.

'How did I get here? Where are the Volturi? How am I going to get out?' Frantic thoughts flashed across my mind as I searched the room for a way out. Suddenly I looked straight up and saw a white ventilation grate. I stuck my hands out toward it and felt the heat rush through me. The metal grate melted and I jumped up into the duct.

Let me tell you, crawling army style through a cramped air duct in a night gown is very uncomfortable. I must have been changed into the nightgown when I was brought here.

'When was I brought here? It must have been while I was under the anesthetic. But who brought me here?' I thought, then sighed mentally. 'At least I'm away from the Volturi. For now..'

I crawled for a while until I saw another white grate.

Below me was what looked like a lounge, but it was completely empty. Delightfully evil scientist free. I melted the grate, and jumped onto the carpeted floor of the white coat lounge. I went to the door, peeking out I saw white coats wandering the halls. I cursed under my breath. That's when a shrill alarm went off.

I covered my ears. "**Attention! Attention! A deadly experiment has gotten loose in the building. Search dogs have been called in." **A lady called over the loud speaker.

They thought I was that deadly? Well, I suppose I was, seeing as I could burn up every single person in this building.

The white coats in the hall started panicking and disappearing through white doors on the hallway walls.

Soon the halls were completely empty. I ran from the lounge and sprinted through the halls when all of a sudden I stopped realizing that I didn't know where the hell I was. "Ugh!" I screamed then pushed my hands out toward a wall, it exploded, revealing an area outside - surrounded by a twenty foot tall electrified fence.

I jumped through the gigantic hole in the wall and out into the yard. Where I found about thirty Erasers. "I thought you muts were recalled or something?" I yelled at them. They growled and came running at me. I smiled in anticipation and brought my hands up, fire consumed almost all of them - I didn't know I could control that much fire.

One of the Erasers came at me and I butterfly kicked him, hitting him with my heel between his neck and shoulder. He fell to the ground.

Another one tackled me from the side and just as he raised his paw to swipe it across my face. I grabbed it at the last second and flipped him off me. I threw a ball of fire at him and turned away to look at the last ten Erasers as he burned.

They surrounded me and I focused on the pressure I had felt earlier. It worked, soon immense pressure was surrounding me, I flung my arms out and the pressure exploded around me, blasting all of the Erasers back against the electrified fence.

"I like my new power." I said then took a running start and jumped into the air, just as I heard the barking of search/attack dogs.

I soared over the fence and flew toward the nearest clothing store, where I could change out of this nightgown, which was not good for flying if you know what I mean.

After that, I was on my way home, Volturi and Itex free.

**Sorry it was a lil short but it's two in the morning and I'm tired. Tomorrow I'll post a longer one. Yay! Phoenix is going back to Forks!**


	18. Chapter 18

**New chapter!!!!! I don't own Maximum Ride or Twilight, but I do own this disclaimer! **

**Oh I'm Crazy - I did think about that, but don't worry there is something that can beat her, Itex just has to change it's approach. Hehehe. I luv giving shout outs just as much as I like getting them lol. **

**Shark Gurl - Thanks, and yes it was very difficult to refrain from burnage, haha.**

**Sayonara Yasashii Akumu - In chapter sixteen Phoenix went through something that she hasn't explained yet, but fear not for there will be answers soon.**

**In chapter seventeen Phoenix went to the hospital to get her chip taken out, because of the Volturi, but when she woke up from the anesthesia she found herself in an Itex laboratory. She escaped and now she's going home to Forks.**

**JandMbooklovers - I actually did think about having her break some of the other kids out, but then it would interfere with future chapters. Plus I see Phoenix as more of a loner. :P Thanks for reading!**

**Itex Headquarters, Russia -**

I slammed my fist down on the table. "What do you mean she escaped!?" I growled at my assistant, Karen. She backed away slowly and said. "I'm sorry ma'am but something has happened, she is much more powerful and has new abilities. I-" I held my hand up, halting her nervous ramblings.

"Stop giving me excuses and find her! I want a team of scientists on top of this, have them build a room that she cannot escape from - something fire and heat resistant. Then bring her back here!" I yelled and Karen flinched.

"There's one small problem though, ma'am." She shuffled her feet and I looked up at her , glaring. "What now?" I said with a sigh. "The scientists didn't get the chance to put her tracking chip back in before she escaped." Karen took another step back. "Those idiots!" I shrieked, then tapped the table, contemplating.

"Send a scout to each and every location where squadrons have been sent after her in the past. Maybe she will return to one of them. We'll find her somehow. We have to find her."

**Phoenix** **POV -**

I landed in an alley beside a boutique called Estate ombreggiata, or Shadowed Summer. It was on a back street that was conveniently empty because of Saint Marcus Day and the congestion in the center of Volterra. Very rarely someone would stray past, but other than that the street was completely abandoned.

I walked around to the front door of the shop and tried the door - locked. The sign in the window said Closed for Saint Marcus day - in Italian of course. It seemed like a very simple lock, a pen lay on the side of the brick road. 'Perfect.' I thought and picked it up. I unscrewed the top and took out the thin ink capsule. I shoved it inside the lock and moved it around until I heard a soft _click_. I smiled and opened the door carefully, just in case there was an alarm, then closed it behind me. Stepping inside I saw an array of colorful tops, dresses, skirts, and in the back - plain old jeans and trendy T-shirts. That's where I headed immediately.

After looking through the shirts and pants, I settled on a white tee with black vine and flower patterns, and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. I looked down at my bare feet, then headed over to the shoes. The only thing they had were stiletto boots.

I picked out a pair of black ones that would come up to about an inch from my knees and headed to the dressing room to put on my new clothes.

After I put on the jeans and tee, I pulled on the boots, remembering the high heel walking lesson Alice had given me when I first moved to Forks.

I was about to leave when I heard voices from outside the front of the store. "Perché questo è sbloccato?" I heard a woman ask why the door was unlocked. 'Shit!' I thought frantically and looked around the dressing room for a way out. There was a small window but it was up at the top of the wall by the ceiling. I climbed on top of the stool in the corner of the small dressing room, but it was lopsided and I wobbled on my stiletto heels, falling backwards. I caught myself on a peg, knocking off the metal hangers that hung there and causing a huge commotion when they fell to the tile floor. I winced as I heard the woman outside say. "What was that?!" In Italian and heard two pairs of clicking heels on the floor, coming towards my dressing room.

I propped the stool back up, opened the window and squirmed out, just as the door to my dressing room opened. I fell a few feet, straight into a dumpster full of blue trash bags. I hopped out and spread my wings, taking off into the air - heading for the airport. I didn't think flying all the way across the North Atlantic Ocean was a very good idea so a nice leisurely plane ride, would be just fine. 'If you had any money!' I thought frantically, my wings almost stopped flapping. I didn't have my handy dandy credit card filled with stolen money from the scientists at Itex!

'Okay, okay. Calm down Phoenix, there has got to be a bank around here somewhere. Just use their phone to cancel your current credit card before Itex drains your bank account. And withdraw enough money to buy a plane ticket. Calm down." I repeated in my head, turning my course and diving down toward an alley. If I was going to find a bank, I would need directions - or a map.

"Scuza." I asked a couple on the street, they were walking hand-in-hand. "Sapere dove una banca è?" I asked them if they knew where a bank was. "Sì, cammina il basso diritto questa strada ed allora prende una parte di sinistra e continu aare camminare." Straight, Left, Straight were the man's directions. "Grazie." I thanked them then followed the directions.

In a few minutes I walked into a small building, there were three tellers. I stepped up to one of them and asked if I could use their phone. "Si." The woman said and pointed me to a black wall-phone. I dialed the number of my credit card company, which was burned into my brain just like all numbers and information is. After a bunch of fake explanation of what happened to my credit card, I got them to cancel it and send me a new one with a different number to the post office in Seattle - which was where my plane would most likely land.

When I was finished I went back to the teller and gave her the name of my bank and my account number. In the end I miraculously got her to withdraw enough money to buy a plane ticket for me.

"Grazie." I said and then headed back to the alley and took off, steering back to the direction of the airport.

I landed a short distance from the airport, not wanting to get spotted by a passing airplane by flying too close. I walked the rest of the way then went through the automatic doors. Bella, Alice, and Edward were probably already on a plane by now - maybe even back in Forks, I had no idea what time it was. I just knew that it was almost dusk. I bought a ticket and I was right - it was for Seattle. Soon enough I was sitting on a big plane back to Seattle, and Forks, and Jacob. I felt my eyelids drooping, and I figured I could use this time to get some rest.

A voice resonating from above me, jolted me from my sleep. "Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts we are coming in for a landing in Seattle, Washington. We wish you all a great stay in the wonderful city of Seattle. Thank you for flying…." I spaced out as the flight attendant went on with the same speech in Italian. I could probably pick up my credit card when I got off the plane, the post office wasn't that far from here. Then I could catch a cab back to Forks with the leftover cash from my plane ticket money.

When the plane landed, I was the first one off, seeing as I didn't have any luggage. I walked out into the cold, moist, night air. The sky was clouded over and it looked like it was about to rain. Good old Washington. I walked down a few blocks and soon came to the post office - I had gotten directions to it from the credit card guy on the phone. A bell on the door rang when I opened it and I walked up to the counter. "Hi, I was supposed to get a package, my name is Sage Cooper." Yep I was going back to my old fake name, mainly because that's the name the credit card company knew me by. "Oh yes, Ms. Cooper, it just arrived for you." The dark haired woman said and handed me a small envelope. "Thank you." I said. "Oh and can you change this dollar in for four quarters?" I asked, holding out a dollar bill left over from my plane money.

"Sure, honey." She took it the bill from me and gave me back four quarters. "Thanks." I said and ripped the envelope open. I took out my credit card and threw the rest of the envelope away on my way out.

When I left the building I used a phone book and called a cab with a pay phone. After the long ride back to Forks, the taxi driver parked outside the Cullens' house and I paid him, hopping out. I was so exhausted that I drug my feet as I walked toward the porch steps.

Alice burst through the front door and ran down the steps. "Phoenix! You made it back, what happened? You look exhausted, come inside. Cute clothes, except you left the tag on your shirt." She pulled the tag off my sleeve and I smiled at her incessant talking, classic Alice.

When we got inside all of the Cullen's greeted me enthusiastically except Edward, who was probably with Bella. Everyone looked pleasantly surprised that I was still alive.

I sat down on the couch and the questions started. "What happened with your eyes? And your hair?" Emmett asked, taking a good look at me for the first time. "I dunno." I said, smiling. "It's a long story." He just laughed.

Alice and Esme sat on either side of me. "I'm glad you're alright, Phoenix. Are you staying? Or…" Esme trailed. "Yeah, I think I'm staying. The chip that Itex used to track me is out and they can't find me anymore." I said, showing her my stitches.

Alice said that I could sleep on Edward's couch. As I sat in the dark, I thought of how much easier my life was going to be without Itex trailing me constantly. Was it going to be any easier? Or would they still find me? I was afraid to finally relax and believe that I was free, just to find out later that my life was still a living hell.

I decided to think about something else for now, the chip was out, and Itex had no clue where I was.

Instead I thought of tomorrow, when I would finally see Jacob again. I missed him terribly, and the more I thought about it, the more impatient I grew. I wanted to see him, no I _needed _to see him. And tomorrow I would. My heart skipped a beat at the thought, I'd never felt this way about anyone.

I fell asleep looking forward to the next day of my life for once.


	19. Chapter 19

**Sry for not posting the past few days, I like three essays on ancient history. Anywho here's a new chapter! I do not own Max Ride or Twilight.**

_Crash!_ I jumped two feet into the air when a loud crash came from downstairs. "What the hell?" I asked groggily. I fell off the couch and did a face plant onto the fluffy carpet. "Déjà vu." I grumbled and threw the covers off me. I stumbled in the dark toward the light coming from under the door, rubbing my eyes I opened it and heard talking downstairs. It sounded like Bella was down there. 'Bella? What's she doing here at- whatever time it is? What time is it?' I asked in my head, slightly disoriented. I headed down the stairs, smoothing out my hair; I'm sure it was a mess - I didn't really care.

I stepped into the living room and saw Edward, pacing angrily. Glass was shattered all over the floor, I looked at it with a blank expression. 'Well now I know what the crash was. Yeah the crash that woke me up in the middle of the night .' I thought grouchily. What? I tend to be grumpy when I wake up to glass shattering in the middle of the night and end up with my face on the floor.

Edward stopped and looked up at me, he blinked then said. "Hello, Phoenix." He ground out, voices were coming from the other room but I wasn't awake enough to listen.

I raised my left brow at him and was about to say something when he looked at the door across the room, and charged through it bellowing, "No! _No! _NO!". I sighed heavily, crossed my arms across my chest and trudged through the door Edward had disappeared through, careful not to step on any glass.

The room was beautiful, with high ceilings and a chandelier, it looked like a dining room but I knew that it was just for show.

"Good morning, Phoenix." Carlisle said evenly. "Is it?" I replied sarcastically, then added a smile at the end to lighten my tone. He smiled back at me then looked up at Edward who was holding Bella by the shoulders. She looked under his arm at me and smiled. "Hi, Phoenix." She said, I smiled and gave her a quick nod. Then she glared at Alice who was sitting at a dining table with the rest of the Cullens and said. "You promised."

"I know, but seriously Bella! I don't have a clue how….not to kill you." She chose those last words carefully, I supposed she was trying to keep Edward from getting even more enraged. Me? I was confused as hell, but I was too tired to care. I plopped down in an empty chair across from Carlisle and next to Emmett. I leaned back and tried to keep my eyes open, Emmet looked at me in amusement - I just scowled, stupid exhaustion.

"You can do it, I trust you." She said, sounding very naïve. Edward snarled and Alice shook her head back and forth, panicked.

"Carlisle?" Bella asked. I couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, what are we talking about here?" I interjected, everyone turned to look at me, like they had forgotten I was there. Rosalie was the first to answer me, which I found strange. "Changing Bella into…." She trailed, her tone was actually kind of sad. "Oh, okay I get it now." I said brilliantly and stood up from my chair. "Alright well, this doesn't concern me so - I'm gonna go for a fly. See ya." I walked out of the faux dining room and made my through the living room, dodging glass shards. I stepped out the front door onto the porch and breathed in the moist night air. It was surprisingly relaxing - even for me, a particularly high strung individual.

It was a little cold but that was just because I was only wearing a tank top and sweat pants. I took a running start off the porch and launched myself into the air. I started flying, to where? I didn't know, I was just reflecting, the darkness soothed me. A full moon shone down, casting shadows across the forest canopy below. I swerved and did a loopty loop, smiling, I hadn't gone for a leisurely flight in a long while.

It wasn't long before the destination my internal compass had chosen was in view, and of course, it was La Push beach - one of my favorite spots in the world. Where I had first met Jacob. I landed, sinking my bare toes into the sand that shone like silver because of the moonlight. The waves were dark underneath but the top reflected the moon in exact detail, almost as if you could touch the moon itself. I sighed and walked over to the driftwood Jacob and I always sat on. Being here was calming but it just made the aching feeling grow in my stomach, the want to see Jacob again now that I've come so close. And the more I thought about the ache, the more anxious I got. 'Just a few more hours.' I kept saying to myself over and over in my head.

I started humming to calm myself down. Then the humming turned into singing one of my favorite songs, Don't know why by Norah Jones.

I waited till I saw the sun,  
I don't know why I didn't come.  
I left you by the house of fun,  
I don't know why I didn't come,  
I don't know why I didn't come.

When I saw the break of day  
I wished that I could fly a way,  
instead of kneeling in the sand,  
catching teardrops in my hand.

My heart is drenched in wine.  
But you'll be on my mind forever.

Out across the endless sea,  
I will die in ecstasy  
But i'll be a bag of bones  
Driving down the road alone,

My heart is drenched in wine.  
But you'll be on my mind forever.

Something has to make you run  
I don't know why I didn't come  
I feel as empty as a drum  
I don't know why I didn't come  
I don't know why I didn't come  
I don't know why I didn't come.

**Jacob POV -**

I jolted from my sleep suddenly, looking around quickly. I relaxed but found that my legs were itching to move. I swung them out of my bed and walked from my room, through our little living room and out the front door. I kept walking, not exactly sure where I was going, just walking I guessed. I sighed, missing Phoenix. 'She promised she would come back. She will come back.' I told myself in my head. 'Not if she's dead.' I thought suddenly, then cursed myself for thinking it, shaking my head to clear it. The pack was getting tired of hearing my thoughts about how much I missed her, I had to learn how to keep it to myself or I wouldb e just like Leah. I shuttered at the thought.

I groaned internally when I noticed where my feet were taking me, La Push beach. I hadn't gone there since Phoenix left, it reminded me too much of her. But for some reason, tonight I wanted to go there so I kept walking. When I was close enough to see the waves I heard something from down the beach. A voice, quiet and beautiful. I stepped onto the sand and looked around. Sitting on the piece of driftwood Phoenix and I had sat on was a girl, I couldn't tell what she looked like from here. She was singing and her voice was amazing, light and airy but her range was fantastic, and she had a unique sound.

She was staring up at the moon, so she didn't notice me. I stood, frozen in awe by the sound of her voice until the end of the song when her head snapped around to look directly at me.

**Phoenix POV-**

At the end of the song I got the sudden urge to look down the beach, a guy was standing there. My eyes narrowed automatically, he was staring at me but I couldn't tell what he looked like in the darkness.

I stood from the driftwood and the guy decided to say something. "You have an amazing voice." He said, barely loud enough for me to hear. I recognized this voice, it was Jacob.

"Jake?" I ask, smiling widely. "Phoenix?!" He asked, shocked. I laughed and ran to him, throwing my arms around his neck. His arms came around me immediately, hugging me tight to him and burying his face in my hair. "I'm home." I said quietly, Jake pulled back, grinning. Then he kissed me hard, the kiss was filled with so much passion that my knees almost wobbled. I said almost, I'm not some girly girl that goes all googoo over a kiss.

I kissed him back with just as much passion, the aching in my stomach had disappeared as soon as I'd realized it was Jacob. Now it was doing flip flops, kind of annoying but I could deal. We both pulled back, breathing hard. "I missed you so much, Phoenix." He said. "Ditto." I said with a smile, I took in all his features again, for one thing he was a lot taller - and I do mean a lot, I'd had to stand on my tiptoes to kiss him. "You got taller." I said, reaching up to touch the top of his head.

"And you got, highlights?" He said, grinning. "I like them."

"Good because I'm stuck with them." I grumbled, pulling my fingers through my hair nervously.

He looked at me, questioning. "I didn't get them voluntarily, they kinda just appeared there. Same with my new eye and wing color, but it's a little too dark to see that right now.

"You can catch me up later." He said. "But you look really tired. "Maybe you should go home and get some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow?"

I bit my lip, not really wanting to leave so soon, but I was exhausted. "Okay." I sighed. He smiled again and kissed me quickly once more before I took off into the air again.

I landed in the Cullen's front yard and walked in the front door. Bella and Edward were gone and the other Cullens were strewn across the living room. "How was your fly?" Alice asked. I smiled sheepishly and started up the steps saying. "The best." I'm definitely not myself when I'm tired I'll give you that. I collapsed on the couch when I reached Edward's room and fell asleep immediately.


	20. Chapter 20

**Operator: Please hold while the author spazzes out erratically.**

**Me: DGYPOSDABTRILSEBGRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!FIGGLEY PIG!!!!**

**Operator: Thank you for holding**

**Me: UGH! I hate homework! I've had sooooo much of it, like piles upon piles. *Sigh* But it's only because I'm one of the few in the running for eighth grade valedictorian and it sucks, I have extra work and essays to prepare me for it, ugh. Anyway let us get onto it then - I own nothing, if I did, I would have lots of money and wouldn't be stuck doing constant homework! FIGGELY PIG!!!!**

"Phoenix!" Alice yelled beside my ear, I almost fell again but caught myself. I looked up slowly with a glare on my face. "Sorry." She sang. "But you can stop glaring at me now because I found some info on the phoenix." I perked up at her words and rubbed my eyes, yawning.

"Thanks Alice, what did you find?"

"Well, it said that the phoenix originated in Egypt, it was a symbol of rebirth because every thousand years or so it would build a nest and light itself on fire, then a 'new' phoenix would rise from the ashes. But I read elsewhere that what they meant by 'new' phoenix was that every time it lights itself on fire, it goes through another cycle of it's life. So it's the same bird that starts a new cycle of it's life each time, but lives forever. Does that make sense to you?" She finished her ramblings and I thought about it for a minute, it did make sense, so the bird was immortal and every time it light itself afire it was going through a new stage of it's life.

"Yeah it does, and it makes sense if I really am four percent…. phoenix. Because I remembered bringing flames up around me, then I got the new eyes and hair, and the claws." I looked down at my hands and stretched my fingers, the sharp, black claws emerged from my fingertips. I relaxed my hand and they sunk back in - undetectable now.

"Yes it does." I looked up at her, she was perched on the arm of the couch and she seemed to be contemplating something.

"Did you find anything else, Alice?" I asked, sort of cautious of her answer.

"Hm? Oh yes, it said….that the phoenix has powers - only concerning heat and fire of course, and healing. So all of your powers correspond. And….it said something about it having a beautiful song and everyday the sun god would come down and listen to the bird while it bathed in some kind of wishing well, but that's probably some folklore made up to please children." Her eyes flashed to me and back so fast I almost didn't notice. I thought about what Jacob had said, "_You have an amazing voice."_

"Or maybe it's not." I mumbled. Alice's head snapped up to look at me.

"What do you mean?"

"Well last night during my fly, well after I had landed I was singing to myself and Jacob overheard and said I have an amazing voice." She smiled.

"So that's why you were in such a good mood." She mused. "Well, if your voice is so amazing then I have to hear it! Sing something." She clapped her hands together and looked at me with an excited expression.

"Um, I don't think so." I muttered and looked down at my hands. What? I'm not allowed to be shy?

"Oh come on, Phoenix, it's only me. Well- it's only the whole house because we all have super sharp hearing -" I cut her off by holding my hand up.

"Not helping, Alice."

"Sorry. But come on don't be shy."

"Nope." I said, popping the 'P' and standing up to stretch. Alice crossed her arms and made a 'humph' sound. Then she smiled slowly and looked at me with a superior expression. I narrowed my eyes.

"What?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh nothing." She tried to blow it off but her mischievous smile was still in place.

"If you don't tell me I'll just go ask Edward what you were thinking." I said defiantly.

"You can't, he's not here. But fine let's just say that I will get to hear you sing." She laughed, then flashed out of the room.

"Alice! You get back here!" I called after her, she can be really annoying when she wants to be.

I took the rest of the morning enjoying the luxuries of a bathroom, clean clothes, and food that isn't fished out of a dumpster. Alice dressed me up in a pair of black skinny jeans and a dark purple sparkly tank top with black stripes. I thought I didn't do sparkles, but Alice actually made it work for me. She gave me a pair of black high heels with a strap that came around my ankles. It takes serious skill that I do not have to walk in those things, I fell down about five times before I got the hang of it. She also let me borrow one of her pleather jackets, she said she avoids furs and leathers when she can, I found that ironic.

She even straightened my long black hair - and when I say long, I mean long. It was down to the small of my back now, I would have to get it cut.

Alice sat with me in the kitchen as I ate a bowl of froot loops, she chattered the whole time asking me questions about what I was doing while I was gone. I told her all the details, the reans, getting the chip out and winding up at an Itex laboratory. She seemed enthralled, glad my near death experiences were amusing her. Esme flitted around the house, doing this and that - too fast for me to actually see what she was doing, though, I suspected she was tidying up or something of the sorts.

At some point I noticed that no one else was in the big, extravagant house except us three.

"Alice?" I asked tentatively.

"Hm?" She said, not looking up from the newspaper she was reading, for a moment I wondered what she would find so interesting in there.

"Where is everyone?"

She finally looked up. "Edward is with Bella, and Carlisle, Emmett , and Jasper are hunting. Edward will join them later."

"Oh, alright then." I finally ate the last froot loop I had been spinning around the milk with my spoon and cleaned out my bowl.

"Oooooh!!! We have to go shopping!" Alice gushed suddenly from behind me, making me jump two feet in the air.

"But, Alice -" She cut me off before I could object any further.

"You don't have any clothes, except for those ratty ones and that one pair that you 'bought" She smirked at the word "So we have to go shopping and get you some clothes. That way you'll be ready for school on Monday."

I froze, I had forgotten all about school, and what day it was.

"Um, Alice what day is it?" I asked sheepishly.

"It's Saturday, and we are going shopping. Esme?" She called and went to talk to her adoptive mom.

"Esme says that she has things to do here, and that we can go ahead, come on." I groaned as she took hold of my arm and pulled me to the car, she took Edward's claiming that he wouldn't mind.

After the drive to the mall Alice led me straight to the clothes and shoved me into a dressing room, despite my objection.

"Now you just put on whatever I give you, and we'll decide whether or not we buy it, or rather I buy it." She instructed and started throwing in clothes.

"I can pay for it Alice." I said stubbornly.

"Nope, I insist." A pair of jeans whacked me in the face and I decided to just go along with whatever she said.

When the trying on clothes phase was over Alice bought the clothes she liked on me, then took me to the shoes and got me lots of high heels that supposedly matched the outfits she had gotten me. I just sat there quietly, like a life-size dress up doll.

Alice stopped pulling me along to the next clothing store when she heard my stomach growl. She turned around with a smirk on her face. "Hungry?" She mocked. I scowled at her. "Did you expect _me_ not to be?" She thought for a moment then said. "No, no I suppose I didn't. Here you go get something to eat, I know your sizes now and I can pick out your clothes, call me when your done." She handed me a wad of cash and programmed her number into the disposable cell phone she had gotten me earlier.

"Thanks Alice." I mumbled then shot off toward the food court, when the smell of pizza hit me I almost started drooling. After I ordered I sat down in the very corner of the food court, where I thought no one would bother me. I thought wrong.

"Hello." I sighed and then looked up.. A boy with curly dark brown hair, icy blue eyes, and handsome features stood behind a chair at the other end of the table. I cocked an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" I said, in a pathetic attempt to be polite, it was virtually impossible after a day of shopping with Alice.

"No I just saw a cute girl sitting all alone and thought I'd come talk to her." He smiled, he was pretty cute.

"Flattering, really. But I'm seeing someone." I said curtly and looked down at food.

I heard the chair scrape as he at down. "Alright, I'm Kade." He stuck his hand out, and I shook it with another sigh. "Sage." I said, using my old name. He smiled and I looked into his icy eyes, they were penetrating. I felt myself starting to get lost in them, until I snapped myself out of it. 'Strange….' I thought.

My eyes narrowed slightly and he quickly said. "Well, even if you are seeing someone, can we hang out sometime, you seem pretty cool." Was this normal behavior for a teenage boy? Wow I really needed to get adapted to this life. "Um…okay." I said, trying to sound like a normal teenage girl.

"Great," He smiled at me. "Meet me at the ice cream place down the street from here at six?" He suggested.

"Uh, okay." I mumbled, did normal girls hang out with guys even when their seeing someone? Ugh, stupid teenage social system.

He smiled once more then left wordlessly. I shook my head then finished eating and called Alice.

**Itex Headquarters Russia -**

"Well, did you track her down?" I asked my assisant.

"Yes ma'am. She was found in that small town Forks again." She said proudly.

"Good and who'd you send after her?" I asked taking a note of Phoenix's location.

"Kade, we figured a less direct approach would be the best way to go. Maybe we can gain her trust, and then catch her when her guard is down." Karen said.

"Perfect. Kade…I hadn't even thought about that option. Good work Karen, and how is the progress with her containment room coming?" I asked, feeling relieved that things were finally coming together, soon Phoenix would be back at Itex.

"Very well ma'am, they are building it completely of two foot thick granite walls, floors, and ceilings. No windows and no handle on the inside of the door, which will also be granite. Placed over the granite walls will be two inch slabs of missle proof glass. Then to top it off they will stretch Zetix, blast and explosion proof fabric over the glass." She said, reading from the clipboard in her hands.

I smiled. "Completely fire, heat, and explosion proof. Tell your team of scientists that they did an outstanding job. And soon we will have an experiment to put in that room." I said, looking at a picture someone managed to take of experiment 314P.


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry I haven't updated guys! I have lots of essays and projects, then I got writers block because all I could think about are these stupid reports! Anywho…..I have a few things on my agenda before you read the story so - this is for those of you who like to skip the AU at the beginning- PAY ATTENTION TO THE AU, RIGHT OVER HERE, LOOK AT THE BOLD TYPE AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN!!!!! Okay, now that I've got your attention, first on my agenda:**

**I've been doing research and *sad face* the Max Ride movie isn't coming out until 2013, *cries*. Because James Patterson is really choosy about his cast members, which is a good thing. And, thankfully James Patterson is definitely NOT letting Hardwicke cast Rob and Kristen - thank goodness. They would be terrible for the part.**

**Second on my agenda:**

**I have a new story idea to run past you guys, let me know what you think, here it is:**

**It's about 6 year old orphaned twin sisters, Eloise gets changed into a vampire, making her an immortal child, the only thing keeping her humanity alive is the connection she has with her beloved twin Ileana - who is still human - and the fear of harming her. Follow their story as Eloise tries to figure out what she has become, all the while working to keep her frail human sister alive as they escape from the orphanage where they grew up and become nomads, evading vampires who all see her as a valuable asset to their covens, and using powers that only the twins share.**

**And then maybe another one which would be a spin off of a character that I will introduce soon in this story that I am writing currently, which I will talk more about later, after you meet her.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, don't rub it in, gosh!**

Of course telling Alice that I was meeting a guy at an ice cream store at six tonight was a terribly bad idea, why didn't I realize that before? And now, thanks to my thoughtlessness, I was standing in her closet as she picked out different clothes from my - 'new wardrobe' as she called the massive amount of clothes she picked out during our excursion at the mall - for me to try on.

"Alice," I sighed once again as tried on a dark emerald quarter length sleeve shirt with a scoop neck, and a black skirt with an elastic band that hugged me just below my ribcage, "You know that this is _not_ a date, right? I am dating Jacob."

"Have you actually gone on a date with the dog? I think not." She was smirking when I came out of the closet in the jade shirt and black skirt, I also had on a pair of black leggings underneath the skirt, and black ballet flats with green beads that matched my top. "I count a walk on the beach as a date so, ha. And stop calling him dog." I scolded and she just shrugged. "Sorry, old habits die hard." She said as she surveyed my outfit. "That's what you're going to wear." She decided, and I breathed a sigh of relief, the torture was over.

Alice checked her watch. "Whoops, time for you to go, take the Volvo." She stopped abruptly in the doorway of her cluttered bedroom and eyed me. "You _do_ know how to drive right?"

"I've driven the Volvo before." I pushed past her, avoiding her question carefully and ran the stairs as she called after me. "Hey!"

I snatched the keys for the Volvo and smiled as I heard the gentle purr of the engine.

Now that I thought about a random guy asking me out to ice cream even though I was already taken, the more paranoid I got - I blew it off as just my nature.

When I got to the little ice cream shop I hopped out of the car and walked inside, where I immediately saw Kade leaning up against the opposite wall. He smiled when he saw me and pushed away from the wall to greet me.

"Hey, Sage." He said.

"Hi Kade." I looked into his eyes and my thoughts were frozen again. I felt my own eyes widen and fear shot down my spine until he broke his gaze and said. "Let's go get some ice cream." He grabbed my elbow, and remembering the fear his stare had caused me, I pulled out of his grasp. His eyes narrowed for a second and then he returned to normal. "Something wrong?" He asked, sounding a little too innocent. I was going with my gut on this one.

I karate chopped right between his neck and shoulder then as he gasped for air, kicked him in the stomach- which had him kneeling over on the ground. I stopped and noticed the rest of the people in the little ice cream store and thought fast.

"That's what you get for cheating on me, jackass! I hate you!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs. Everyone had shocked/amused looks on their faces as I bolted out the front doors. I saw Kade press a button on what looked like a beeper on his jeans - I knew better, he was really calling in troops. "Dammit, how'd they find me?" I hissed under my breath as I ran back to Edwards' Volvo. I jumped into the front seat only to find that the keys were not in my pocket. "Ugh, damn pickpocket." I cursed then jumped back out of the car, finding myself in the face of ten robot dogs and Kade.

"Leaving so soon, _Phoenix_?" He taunted and jiggled my keys in front of him. A snarl escaped my lips and just as I was about to lunge at him I was caught in his gaze again. My mind froze, I couldn't think and therefore - I couldn't move. I was immobilized, mentally and physically.

"You see Phoenix," Kade continued nonchalantly. "Itex figured that - if they can't capture you using brute force, they could capture you by getting inside your head. Literally. Anyway, the director wants you back at headquarters immediately, we have made accommodations just for you." He smiled, then walked forward, pulling out a syringe - my eyes widened. He stuck the needle in my arm - constantly keeping eye contact, until my eyelids started drooping, then closed completely - I felt myself fall, then I was unconscious.

I jolted upright from my sleep, dazed and disoriented - what happened? I looked around, I was in a room, the walls and floor were completely covered in black fabric. A camera was perched in the top corner of one of the walls, and a TV monitor hung on the wall next to it.

'No, no, no, no.' I thought as I swung my legs out of the cot I was laying in, I was wearing a nightgown again. 'Oh no.' I cried in my head. The fabric had a funny feeling on my bare feet, like heavy padding but slightly…metallic. The only lighting in the room came from dim fluorescent lights on the ceiling, but they shone brighter against the black material.

I felt along the wall for a doorknob but all I found was a small outline of a box - which they would probably open to give me food or something. I was about to sit back on the bed when the monitor fizzled and turned on to that gray static you get when your tuned to the wrong- oh you know what I mean. Soon the screen showed the personification of evil. The Director. I almost hissed out loud at the sight of her.

I jumped up from the bed and walked over to stand in front of the screen, nostrils flared.

"Hello Phoenix." She said with a superior smile. I just death glared at her, too infuriated to speak.

"Well, I see we have finally succeeded in your capture." She said, I wanted to smack that smile off her face.

"Good to see you haven't gone blind, it's amazing considering your age." I spat.

Anger flashed in her eyes but she composed herself and cleared her throat. "By the way, don't even think about escaping that room, it's completely fire and blast proof, completely immune to your powers." I kept my emotions in check but inside my stomach fell - so much for that plan.

"We've been contemplating what exactly to do with you now that you are here, Phoenix."

"And?" I asked, pretending to be bored.

"You have two choices Phoenix, either join us here and become a part of our fleet, or be executed." She stated.

I smiled slowly. "Fine, kill me, what do I care?"

Her fists clenched. "Always so _selfless_, well then let me revise my offer. Become a part of our fleet, or your little boyfriend dies."

My eyes widened, she noticed and smirked. I made my eyes go blank and repeated to myself 'Jake can defend himself, he's got the pack, he can defend himself. Oh who am I kidding, just because he's a werewolf doesn't mean guns don't affect him.

I looked down as I answered. "Fine." I whispered, but I had no intention of staying here.

For the next couple of days I complied, they started out my training in my room - but then decided that they trusted me enough to take me outside the protected walls of my cell, with handcuffs of course. Access to the halls was all I needed. It gave me the chance to mentally map the place, to plan routes of escape that would be needed in the near future. So far I had one way out.

From my room I'll have go left, take another left, take the stairs at right up to the first floor (my room was in the basement, to make it more difficult to escape I supposed), then take the hallway straight down to the front door which is made of iron - no escaping there, but the door next to it leads to the boiler room which leads to the service elevator (who will suspect _me _taking an elevator?), that will take me straight up to the roof. Home free.

Right now I was in the exercise room, they were testing how much weight I could handle, so far it was going well. The whitecoat watching me left for a second and I took the time to look around for new escape routes.

"Hello again Phoenix." A voice purred from beside me, no way. I turned slowly and blinked at what I saw. "Hello Chloe, I see they…reconstructed you." I almost shivered at the fact that they brought her back from the dead.

"Surprised? I was one of heir most prized assassins, no way were they going to let me die." She laughed lightly.

"Were you always so full of yourself? And what do you mean 'was'? Lose your ability to hunt rouges when you died? " She glared at me, but blew off my question.

"I never thought they'd actually tame you, Phoenix." She stated snidely, I ground my teeth.

"I am not tame." I growled.

"Face it Phoenix, you're a caged bird now." She said smugly.

"And you're a washed up, undead kitty cat." Chloe hissed, the slits grew wider and blacker. 'This is fun.' I thought. 'Eh, might as well poke the bear while I've got a stick.'

"Meow." I squeaked and made a pawing motion in the air, which was hard with handcuffs, well everything was hard with handcuffs on. She growled then pounced forward at me, I dodged and held the metal weight I had in my hands out in my place. Her forehead came in contact with it at full force and she fell to the floor, unconscious. I laughed out loud, that's when the guards came to take me back to my cell.

They latched my handcuffs to the cot, so I lay down, waiting for sleep to come. As soon as I gained their trust, at least enough to get these handcuffs off, I could attempt an escape from this hell.


	22. Chapter 22

**Dun da da dah!!!!! A new chapter! Yay! **

**Now that all my extra work is done (for now), I can't stop coming up with new story ideas. Must…stop…creative…nature…..AH! **

**Okay here's another one of my ideas:**

**It takes place in a wasteland earth, Max and the Flock never existed and Itex invented an atomic bomb which accidentally goes off while under the not-so-vigilant watch of a careless employee. The only survivors are the rouge experiments who managed to avoid the blast by going underground- unable to successfully warn the rest of the world. **

**But some of the rouges don't stay underground and go up too soon after the explosion. The toxins and chemicals still lingering in the air mutate them into uncontrollable, animalistic killers, who the survivors call the Aegers. **

**With no food, no shelter, and no weapons, Anastasia and her clan of survivors need to find a way off the dangerous, barren wasteland that Earth had become. All the while, battling the Aegers, and avoiding Itex robot soldiers called Exterminators; who were created by the few whitecoats who had also taken refuge underground, to track and kill any experiments left so it would be safe for them to build their own, new, experiment-free world.**

**Should I write it? Or is my mind just coming up with random dribble? Let me know what you think :)**

**Disclaimer: Do I seriously have to keep repeating this? I mean it's like in every single chapter; I am getting sick and tired of -**

**Phoenix: Just stop babbling and say the disclaimer**

**Me: *Grumbles* Fine, I don't own Max Ride, or Twilight, get off my back!**

I sat up in bed, when the heavy door to my room was pushed open and a guard stepped through, pulling a blindfolded girl with handcuffs constraining her hands behind her back, inside.

"Don't touch me." She hissed and pulled away from the guard. She had a heavy Russian accent, one of the guards pushed her inside, then they quickly left the room - leaving me with a blindfolded, handcuffed, Russian girl. 'Interesting.' I thought. The girl had dark cherry brown hair that framed her face in waves and fell a few inches past her shoulder. **(AN-Pic of the hair at bottom)** She had pale skin except for the slight pink coloring her cheeks, and she had a perfect figure.

I rolled my eyes when the Director came onto the monitor on the other side of the room. "Phoenix, meet your new cellmate, Valera."

The girl had spun around to face the monitor, but she obviously couldn't see anything through the fabric that covered her eyes. "Why the hell is she blindfolded?" I asked abruptly.

"Well, um, Valera here-" Valera cut her off.

"They're afraid of my powers, I am a skilled hypnotist. And my powers won't work unless I can see them." She crossed her arms, and leaned on her right foot, which had on a black, knee length stiletto boot, and the left had a matching one. Her Russian accent was so thick; I knew she had to have grown up here in Russia - Itex had explained our location to me during one of my training sessions. She wore black skinny jeans and a black tank top. 'Goth much?' I thought.

"Yes, I suppose that's one way to put it." The Director ground out. "Valera is here because she tried to escape during one of her missions, now she will be held with you until we can get her…back on track."

Valera let out a low hiss and the monitor switched off, she turned towards my general direction.

"I have heard about you. Phoenix, correct?." She asked.

"Uh, yeah. What did she mean 'mission'?" Valera walked over and leaned on the wall, wow she had good depth perception.

"I am an assassin from the Venus division." She explained calmly. 'Well that explains the clothes.' I thought. "Or, possibly _was_." She looked away pointlessly.

"Venus division?" She laughed to herself before answering me.

"We are a group of femme fatales, trained in deadly potions, pressure point attacks, stealth fighting, and…others." She explained, then smiled faintly, shaking her head. "Some of the girls called us 'Specialists of seduction and destruction'." She laughed again, as though she was speaking of family. 'Maybe she is,' I thought. 'Maybe that's the way they raised her.' I shook my head, Itex did not 'raise' children.

"Others?" I asked, becoming a fan of short worded questions.

"Yes, most of us have additional affinities. For instance; I have hypnosis. And wings." She said, and a pair of wings fanned out around her, but her feathers were translucent, except for dark downy feathers at the top near her shoulders. Her wingspan was about equal to mine.

"Oh, so who exactly do you assassinate?" She pulled her wings back in and said. "The details, I'm afraid, are confidential - but I assassinate whoever the _Director _wants me to." She spat the name. "Could you please take this blindfold off me? I give you my word that I won't hypnotize you." She sighed when she sensed my hesitation. "Come on, I've already got the wings - I don't want to be blind too." She smiled at her pun, then frowned.

"But don't get the wrong idea about bats, they really aren't blind. People just say 'blind as a bat'." I laughed quietly then said. "Fine, but you have to come over here because one of my hands is cuffed to the bed. I mean I would melt it since it's just metal, but they'd probably see. There is a camera in the corner over there."

She walked over and I pulled the blindfold off her head. She pushed her hair out of her face and I saw her eyes, one was a bright, mossy green and the other was a deep, electric blue. She looked to be about fifteen.

"I am quite the walking contradiction aren't I?" She asked, pulling at her handcuffs and sitting down on the other side of the cot. "One green eye, one blue eye, clear wings…" She trailed, letting out a small laugh.

I smiled too, she was right - she didn't make much sense at all.

"I-" I started but Valera shushed me. "Wait." She said, staring at the camera - of which she was out of sight. She dropped to the floor and somersaulted over to the monitor, keeping out of the camera's view the whole time. She reached up and switched the TV on, the screen showed a group of people, turned away from the surveillance monitor in whatever room they were in. 'Huh, I guess that thing works both ways.' I thought.

Valera smiled and walked back over, to me. "Be quiet, they may not be watching but they can still hear so keep your voice down." I looked back at the screen, confused.

"I am not going to just stand around and let them put a gun to my head, I am getting out of here, are you coming with me?" She whispered quickly, checking the monitor to make sure they weren't watching.

"Um, yeah, of course I want to get out of here." This was exactly the break I needed.

"Perfect, okay we have only one chance when the guards come to bring my cot in. When they do, just follow my lead. I know this place like the back of my hand - I grew up here." 'Ha I knew it! I knew she grew up here! Oh wait, that's not a very good thing is it?' I thought.

"So, how'd they finally capture you?" Valera said, trying to make conversation as she sat, leaned up against the wall across from me.

"They sent some rouge hunter, Kade, out for me." She nodded slowly.

"Figures they would sent someone with parimolosis. Easiest way to catch a tough rouge." She stated while playing with her shoe straps, I had melted both our handcuffs while the whitecoats weren't watching. We hid our hands most of the time to make it look like we had them on, though.

"What is parimolosis?"

"The ability to paralyze brain function through thought waves." Valera said, then held up a finger, pressing her ear against the wall. "How can she hear anything through these walls?" I asked quietly.

"I have bat hearing." She stated matter-of-factly. "Okay, get ready, they're coming." She hid her hands behind her back, pretending to still be handcuffed, I covered my hand that was supposed to be cuffed to the bed with a blanket as two guards walked through the door, carrying a cot.

Valera looked down like she didn't notice them, but as they set the cot down against the wall she her head snapped up to nod at me.

She jumped up, and in one fluid movement, spun reaching into her boot and pulling out a knife which she threw at the camera. It struck through the glass lens with perfect precision. Then she swung her leg around and snap-kicked one of the guards in the neck, he fell to the ground and as the other one started towards her with a gun, she held out two fingers and struck him just below the collar bone. He dropped like the other one and she grabbed both their guns.

"Here, take this and let's get a move on." She said urgently, tossing me one of the handguns and sprinting out the heavy granite door, I followed close behind.

"How are we getting out again?" I asked, trying to keep up - damn that girl was fast.

"We are stealing a car, and don't you dare use your powers, the electromagnetic sensors will go crazy and we will be…how do you say….busted?"

"Electromagnetic sensors?" I asked, feeling like an airhead.

"Every single one of Itex's creation has some kind of ingredient required to give them powers, that ingredient emits massive amounts of electromagnetic radiation whenever powers are in use. It comes in handy when I am tracking- but you don't want to hear about that, come on." She ran up the stairs leading to the next floor and pulled her gun.

"As soon as they notice that the camera is down, they are going to come looking for us -probably assuming that there was a short in the fuse and that we are still in our cell. When they find out that information is false, all hell is going to break loose - so get your gun ready." She warned. I unlocked the safety on the gun and made sure there were bullets inside.

Valera handle on the door then cursed when she saw that it was locked. "Stand back." She ordered, then kicked the door hard enough for it to fly open and bang against the wall.

I stepped through the open doorway and said, "Which way?" Looking around, I knew which way to the roof, I didn't know which way to wherever the cars were. "Right." She answered, doing a 360 surroundings check. I started running right, my bare feet padded against the cold floor. I heard Valera following behind me, she soon caught up and told me, "This way, come on." She turned left and opened another door.

That door led to a dark hallway, more like a tunnel. It was lit by electric lanterns and the brick walls were chipped and metal rods stuck out of them at random places.

"This is a very old fire escape that was made when this was still a small laboratory, they hardly use it anymore. But it leads straight to the parking garage." As she was talking I heard an alarm sound from inside. "Get ready." Valera said and turned around, holding up her gun. I followed her example just as three Reans came into view.

I sucked in a breath and Valera whispered, "Don't worry, they have a weakness." Then she pulled the trigger, the bullet went straight into one of the Reans' forehead. She then ran forward and started fighting.

I shot and hit one of them in the shoulder. 'Guess my aim is off.' I thought as one appeared behind me, stupid teleportation. I spun around and round house kicked it in the chest, he grabbed my foot and swung me around against the wall.

"Use your powers!" Valera called as a Rean slashed her across the stomach. She bent over in pain but straightened quickly and swung her fist at one of them. "It's too late now, they already know we broke out."

I smiled and quickly threw a ball of fire at the Rean attacking me, the flames consumed him quickly and I turned - only to see that Valera had already taken the other two out.

"They have a soft spot on the back of their heads, now let's go." She dashed down the tunnel at top speed and I followed.

Footsteps came from behind and I heard a whistle as something flew past my head. A bullet, "Valera! Duck!" I yelled, she was a good fifteen feet ahead of me. She looked behind her, then ducked quickly, the bullet whizzed past her and hit the wall where the tunnel made a curve up ahead.

I turned and saw the robot dogs following us. I growled then called, "Let's pick it up!" I spread my wings through the pre-cut slits in my shirt. They had decided to give me normal clothes in the past few days, so I could train easier, but they didn't give me shoes…

I jumped and took off, the tunnel was just wide enough for my wings, but they still brushed against the walls. Valera noticed and spread her own wings, you could hardly tell she had any in this dim lighting, they were so translucent. Boxes and other random items were pushed against the walls, including a large gas tank. 'What the heck is that doing in an old fire escape?' I asked in my head.

We turned the corner and burst into the parking garage, leaving the robots far behind. Valera landed in front of a humvee. She popped the top while I check to see if the doors were locked, luckily they weren't.

I check the back seats out of paranoia, I've seen too many horror movies I think. Or maybe my life was just too much like one. Instead of a serial killer with a hacksaw, I found a trunk full of AK-47's, other assault rifles, shot guns, machine guns, and a bunch of other large guns that I don't know the names of. It also has an array of knives, and machetes. 'This could come in handy.' I thought.

I grabbed one of the guns and swung the strap over my shoulder. "I got it." Valera said happily as the humvee started up. She looked in the back seat as she walked around to the driver's side. "Hand me one of those?" She asked, I handed her one and she put it over her shoulder as I did, then she opened the car door and hopped into the drivers' seat.

"Uh, shouldn't I drive? I am older." She raised an eyebrow. "I've been driving for three years, mostly motorcycles but I know how to drive. How long have you been driving?" I looked down and mumbled, "About a week."

"I thought so, come on, we're wasting time - hop in." I ran around the other side, closing the back door and jumping into the passenger seat.

Valera slammed on the gas and drove as fast as she could out of the parking garage. We went up a ramp and headed straight for a ten foot tall chain link fence.

"Valera? Are you sure you should-" But it was too late, she crashed into the fence at full speed, it came down and we drove through, going faster than before. "You were saying?" She asked with a smile, just as something pierced the back window. I twisted around and saw a bullet stuck in the window.

"Little problem back here." I warned as I noticed the pack of dog robots following us.

"Hm," She said, looking out the rearview mirror. "Take the wheel." I reached over and steered the car while she reeled down her window and cocked her gun.

She leaned as far out as she could then sighed. "Here get into the front seat." She said as she climbed out the window entirely. I scooted over into her seat and heard sounds coming from the roof of the car as Valera climbed on top of it.

Then repeated gunshot sounded as she shot her machine gun, and laughed. 'How sadistic.' I thought as the gunshot ended. I looked out the window for Valera, but didn't see her. I turned back to the windshield as she stuck her head in front of it from the roof. I jumped and she laughed, then said, "Okay, situation neutralized." She said and climbed in the window, I moved over so she could take the wheel.

Then I got an idea, "I'll be right back." And climbed out my window, as Valera had done, and pulled myself onto the roof. I noticed our surroundings, forests full of snow were all around us as we zoomed down a small dirt road. I held my hands out , closed my eyes, and concentrated on the memory of the gas tank sitting in the tunnel. I curled my fingers slowly and felt heat rush through me. Then I heard a huge "BOOM!" from the building. I opened my eyes to see a huge explosion, and then the building went up in flames.

I smiled to myself as we drove away from the flaming headquarters, then climbed back into the passenger seat. "Impressive, nice work." Valera commented, and pulled off the dirt road, onto a nice paved one. "Thanks. Where are we going?" I asked. "Wherever you want. I'm headed to a train station, you can take the car. I've got nowhere I want to go." She said quietly, her voice almost sad.

"Alright, thanks."

After Valera drove to the train station, she took a backpack from the back seat and put a few weapons in it, then left.

After a few minutes I pulled away from the station and started towards a hotel. I knew I couldn't go back to Forks, they would find me if I went there again. But I hated to ask Jacob to leave his home.

I sighed. 'There's always something.' I thought ruefully as I drove down the frost covered road.

**Ugh so fanfiction won't let me post the links (WTH?), so f you want to see Valera's hair and wings, go to my profile they should be there :) Thanks for reading everyone!**


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